LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 

from 
CARL  SANDBURGS  LIBRARY 

ISO  I 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


THE  LIFE  OF 


BRAHAM  LINCOLN 


^ 


By  henry 
KETCHAM 


^ 


WITH  MANY  FULL  PAGE  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


THE  PERKINS  BOOK  COMPANY 
2q6  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK 


Copyright,  1901,  by  A.  L.  Burt. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 
By  Henry  Ketcham. 


l1 5.1  Ui^"^  ^/a;ccp>l/J 


TO  MY 
TWO  OLDER  BROTHERS, 

JOHN  LEWIS  KETCHAM, 

AND 

WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  KETCHAM, 

WHO  UNDER  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  AS 

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF 

LOYALLY  SERVED  THEIR  COUNTRY  IN  THE  WAR 

FOR  THE  PERPETUATION  OP  THE  UNION 

AND  THE 

DESTRUCTION  OP  SLAVERY, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  AFFECTIONATELY  DEDICATED. 


1^ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Wild  West 1 

II.  The  Lincoln  Family 8 

III.  Early  Years 14 

IV.  In  Indiana 27 

V.  Second  Journey  to  New  Orleans 36 

VI.  Desultory  Employments 40 

VII.  Entering  Politics 52 

VIII.  Entering  the  Law 63 

IX.  On  the  Circuit 73 

X.  Social  Life  and  Marriage 85 

XI.  The  Encroachments  of  Slavery 94 

XII.  The  Awakening  of  the  Lion 103 

Xni.  Two  Things  that  Lincoln  Missed 115 

XIV.  Birth  of  the  Republican  Party 123 

XV.  The  Battle  of  the  Giants 131 

XVI.  Growing  Audacity  of  the  Slave  Power 143 

XVn.  The  Backwoodsman  at  the  Center  of  Eastern 

Culture 151 

XVIIL  The  Nomination  of  1860 161 

XIX.  The  Election 176 

XX.  Four  Long  Months 189 

XXI.  Journey  to  Washington  200 

XXII.  The  Inauguration 214 

XXIII.  Lincoln  his  Own  President 224 

XXIV.  Fort  Sumter 234 

XXV.  The  Outburst  of  Patriotism 244 

XXVI.  The  War  Here  to  Stay 255 

XXVII.  The  Darkest  Hour  of  the  War 265 

V 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


OHAPTXK  PA?E 

XXVIII.  Lincoln  and  Fremont 274 

XXIX.  Lincoln  and  McClellan. 284 

XXX.  Lincoln  and  Greeley 295 

XXXI.  Emancipation   307 

XXXII.  Discouragements 321 

XXXm.  New  Hopes 331 

XXXIV.  Lincoln  and  Grant 344 

XXXV.  Literary  Characteristics 358 

XXXVI.  Second  Election 368 

XXXVIL  Close  of  the  War 376 

XXXVIIL  Assassination 387 

XXXIX.  A  Nation's  Sorrow 400 

XL.  The  Measure  of  a  Man 412 

XLI.  Testimonies 424 


PREFACE. 

The  question  will  naturally  be  raised,  Why- 
should  there  be  another  Life  of  Lincoln  ?  This 
may  be  met  by  a  counter  question,  Will  there 
ever  be  a  time  in  the  near  future  when  there  will 
not  be  another  Life  of  Lincoln  ?  There  is  always 
a  new  class  of  students  and  a  new  enrolment  of 
citizens.  Every  year  many  thousands  of  young 
people  pass  from  the  Grammar  to  the  High  School 
grade  of  our  public  schools.  Other  thousands 
are  growing  up  into  manhood  and  womanhood. 
These  are  of  a  different  constituency  from  their 
fathers  and  grandfathers  who  remember  the  civil 
war  and  were  perhaps  in  it. 

"To  the  younger  generation,"  writes  Carl 
Schurz,  "Abraham  Lincoln  has  already  become 
a  half  mythical  figure,  which,  in  the  haze  of 
historic  distance,  grows  to  more  and  more  heroic 
proportions,  but  also  loses  in  distinctness  of  out- 
line and  figure."  The  last  clause  of  this  remark 
is  painfully  true.     To  the  majority  of  people  now 

living,  his  outline  and  figure  are  dim  and  vague. 

ix 


X  PREFACE. 

There  are  to-day  professors  and  presidents  of 
colleges,  legislators  of  prominence,  lawyers  and 
judges,  literary  men,  and  successful  business 
men,  to  whom  Lincoln  is  a  tradition.  It  cannot 
be  expected  that  a  person  born  after  the  year  (say) 
1855,  could  remember  Lincoln  more  than  as  a 
name.  Such  an  one's  ideas  are  made  up  not  from 
his  remembrance  and  appreciation  of  events  as 
they  occurred,  but  from  what  he  has  read  and 
heard  about  them  in  subsequent  years. 

The  great  mine  of  information  concerning  the 
facts  of  Lincoln's  life  is,  and  probably  will  always 
be,  the  History  by  his  secretaries,  Nicolay  and 
Hay.  This  is  worthily  supplemented  by  the 
splendid  volumes  of  Miss  Tarbell.  There  are 
other  biographies  of  great  value.  Special  men- 
tion should  be  made  of  the  essay  by  Carl  Schurz, 
which  is  classic. 

The  author  has  consulted  freely  all  the  books 
on  the  subject  he  could  lay  his  hands  on.  In  this 
volume  there  is  no  attempt  to  write  a  history  of 
the  times  in  which  Lincoln  lived  and  worked. 
Such  historical  events  as  have  been  narrated  were 
selected  solely  because  they  illustrated  some  phase 
of  the  character  of  Lincoln.  In  this  biography 
the  single  purpose  has  been  to  present  the  living 
man  with  such  distinctness  of  outline  that  the 


PREFACE.  xi 

reader  may  have  a  sort  of  feeling  of  being  ac- 
quainted with  him.  If  the  reader,  finishing  this 
volume,  has  a  vivid  realization  of  Lincoln  as  a 
man,  the  author  will  be  fully  repaid. 

To  achieve  this  purpose  in  brief  compass,  much 
has  been  omitted.  Some  of  the  material  omitted 
has  probably  been  of  a  value  fully  equal  to  some 
that  has  been  inserted.  This  could  not  well  be 
avoided.  But  if  the  reader  shall  here  acquire 
interest  enough  in  the  subject  to  continue  the 
study  of  this  great,  good  man,  this  little  book 

will  have  served  its  purpose. 

H.  K. 

Westfield,  New  Jersey, 
February,  lUOl. 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   WILD  WEST. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century- 
there  is,  strictly  speaking,  no  frontier  to  the 
United  States.  At  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  the  larger  part  of  the  country  was 
frontier.  In  any  portion  of  the  country  to-day, 
in  the  remotest  villages  and  hamlets,  on  the 
enormous  farms  of  the  Dakotas  or  the  vast 
ranches  of  California,  one  is  certain  to  find  some, 
if  not  many,  of  the  modern  appliances  of  civiliza- 
tion such  as  were  not  dreamed  of  one  hundred 
years  ago.  Aladdin  himself  could  not  have  com- 
manded the  glowing  terms  to  write  the  prospectus 
of  the  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
So,  too,  it  requires  an  extraordinary  effort  of  the 
imagination  to  conceive  of  the  condition  of  things 
in  the  opening  years  of  that  century. 

The  first  quarter  of  the  century  closed  with  the 


2  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

year  1825.  At  that  date  Lincoln  was  nearly 
seventeen  years  old.  The  deepest  impressions  of 
life  are  apt  to  be  received  very  early,  and  it  is 
certain  that  the  influences  which  are  felt  previous 
to  seventeen  years  of  age  have  much  to  do  with 
the  formation  of  the  character.  If,  then,  we  go 
back  to  the  period  named,  we  can  tell  with  suf- 
ficient accuracy  what  were  the  circumstances  of 
Lincoln's  early  life.  Though  we  cannot  precisely 
tell  what  he  had,  we  can  confidently  name  many 
things,  things  which  in  this  day  we  class  as  the 
necessities  of  life,  which  he  had  to  do  without, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  they  had  not  then 
been  invented  or  discovered. 

In  the  first  place,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that 
he  lived  in  the  woods.  The  West  of  that  day  was 
not  wild  in  the  sense  of  being  wicked,  criminal, 
ruffian.  Morally,  and  possibly  intellectually,  the 
people  of  that  region  would  compare  with  the  rest 
of  the  country  of  that  day  or  of  this  day.  There 
was  little  schooling  and  no  literary  training.  But 
the  woodsman  has  an  education  of  his  own.  The 
region  was  wild  in  the  sense  that  it  was  almost 
uninhabited  and  untilled.  The  forests,  extending 
from  the  mountains  in  the  East  to  the  prairies  in 
the  West,  were  almost  unbroken  and  were  the 
abode  of  wild  birds  and  wild  beasts.    Bears,  deer. 


THE  WILD  WEST.  3 

wild-cats,  raccoons,  wild  turkeys,  wild  pigeons, 
wild  ducks  and  similar  creatures  abounded  on 
every  hand. 

Consider  now  the  sparseness  of  the  population. 
Kentucky  has  an  area  of  40,000  square  miles. 
One  year  after  Lincoln's  birth,  the  total  popula- 
tion, white  and  colored,  was  406, 51 1,  or  an  average 
of  ten  persons — say  less  than  two  families — to  the 
square  mile.  Indiana  has  an  area  of  36, 350  square 
miles.  In  1810  its  total  population  was  24,520, 
or  an  average  of  one  person  to  one  and  one-half 
square  miles  ;  in  1820  it  contained  147,173  inhab- 
itants, or  about  four  to  the  square  mile  ;  in  1825 
the  population  was  about  245,000,  or  less  than 
seven  to  the  square  mile. 

The  capital  city,  Indianapolis,  which  is  to-day 
of  surpassing  beauty,  was  not  built  nor  thought 
of  when  the  boy  Lincoln  moved  into  the  State. 

Illinois,  with  its  more  than  56,000  square  miles 
of  territory,  harbored  in  1810  only  12,282  people  ; 
in  1820,  only  55,211,  or  less  than  one  to  the  square 
mile  ;  while  in  1825  its  population  had  grown  a 
trifle  over  100,000  or  less  than  two  to  the  square 
mile. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  up  to  his  youth,  Lincoln 
dwelt  only  in  the  wildest  of  the  wild  woods,  where 
the  animals  from  the  chipmunk  to  the  bear  were 


4  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

much  more  numerous,  and  probably  more  at  home, 
than  man. 

There  were  few  roads  of  any  kind,  and  certainly 
none  that  could  be  called  good.  For  the  mud  of 
Indiana  and  Illinois  is  very  deep  and  very  tena- 
cious. There  were  good  saddle-horses,  a  suf 
ficient  number  of  oxen,  and  carts  that  were  rude 
and  awkward.  No  locomotives,  no  bicycles,  no 
automobiles.  The  first  railway  in  Indiana  was 
constructed  in  184Y,  and  it  was,  to  say  the  least, 
a  very  primitive  affair.  As  to  carriages,  there 
may  have  been  some,  but  a  good  carriage  would 
be  only  a  waste  on  those  roads  and  in  that 
forest. 

The  only  pen  was  the  goose-quill,  and  the  ink 
was  home-made.  Paper  was  scarce,  expensive, 
and,  while  of  good  material,  poorly  made.  News- 
papers were  unknown  in  that  virgin  forest,  and 
books  were  like  angels'  visits,  few  and  far  be- 
tween. 

There  were  scythes  and  sickles,  but  of  a  grade 
that  would  not  be  salable  to-day  at  any  price. 
There  were  no  self-binding  harvesters,  no  mowing 
machines.  There  were  no  sewing  or  knitting 
machines,  though  there  were  needles  of  both 
kinds.     In  the  woods  thorns  were  used  for  pins. 

Guns  were  flint-locks,  tinder-boxes  were  used 


THE  WILD  WEST.  5 

until  the  manufacture  of  the  friction  match.  Ar- 
tificial light  came  chiefly  from  the  open  fireplace, 
though  the  tallow  dip  was  known  and  there  were 
some  housewives  who  had  time  to  make  them  and 
the  disposition  to  use  them.  Illumination  by- 
means  of  molded  candles,  oil,  gas,  electricity, 
came  later.  That  was  long  before  the  days  of  the 
telegraph. 

In  that  locality  there  were  no  mills  for  weaving 
cotton,  linen,  or  woolen  fabrics.  All  spinning 
was  done  by  means  of  the  hand  loom,  and  the 
common  fabric  of  the  region  was  linsey-woolsey, 
made  of  linen  and  woolen  mixed,  and  usually  not 
dyed. 

Antiseptics  were  unknown,  and  a  severe  sur- 
gical operation  was  practically  certain  death  to 
the  patient.  Nor  was  there  ether,  chloroform,  or 
cocaine  for  the  relief  of  pain. 

As  to  food,  wild  game  was  abundant,  but  the 
kitchen  garden  was  not  developed  and  there  were 
no  importations.  No  oranges,  lemons,  bananas. 
No  canned  goods.  Crusts  of  rye  bread  were 
browned,  ground,  and  boiled  ;  this  was  coffee. 
Herbs  of  the  woods  were  dried  and  steeped  ;  this 
was  tea.  The  root  of  the  sassafras  furnished  a 
different  kind  of  tea,  a  substitute  for  the  India 
and  Ceylon  teas  now  popular.     Slippery  elm  bark 


6  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

soaked  in  cold  water  sufficed  for  lemonade.  The 
milk-house,  when  there  was  one,  was  built  over  a 
spring  when  that  was  possible,  and  the  milk 
vessels  were  kept  carefully  covered  to  keep  out 
snakes  and  other  creatures  that  like  milk. 

Whisky  was  almost  universally  used.  Indeed, 
in  spite  of  the  constitutional  "sixteen-to-one,"  it 
was  locally  used  as  the  standard  of  value.  The 
luxury  of  quinine,  which  came  to  be  in  general 
use  throughout  that  entire  region,  was  of  later 
date. 

These  details  are  few  and  meager.  It  is  not 
easy  for  us,  in  the  midst  of  the  luxuries,  comforts, 
and  necessities  of  a  later  civilization,  to  realize 
the  conditions  of  western  life  previous  to  1825. 
But  the  situation  must  be  understood  if  one  is  to 
know  the  life  of  the  boy  Lincoln. 

Imagine  this  boy.  Begin  at  the  top  and  look 
down  him — a  long  look,  for  he  was  tall  and 
gaunt.  His  cap  in  winter  was  of  coon-skin,  with 
the  tail  of  the  animal  hanging  down  behind.  In 
summer  he  wore  a  misshapen  straw  hat  with  no 
hat-band.  His  shirt  was  of  linsey-woolsey,  above 
described,  and  was  of  no  color  whatever,  unless 
you  call  it  "the  color  of  dirt."  His  breeches  were 
of  deer-skin  with  the  hair  outside.  In  dry  weather 
these  were  what  you  please,  but  when  wet  they 


THE  WILD  WEST.  7 

hugged  the  skin  with  a  clammy  embrace,  and  the 
victim  might  sigh  in  vain  for  sanitary  underwear. 
These  breeches  were  held  up  by  one  suspender. 
The  hunting  shirt  was  likewise  of  deer-skin.  The 
stockings, — there  weren't  any  stockings.  The 
shoes  were  cow-hide,  though  moccasins  made  by 
his  mother  were  substituted  in  dry  weather. 
There  was  usually  a  space  of  several  inches  be- 
tween the  breeches  and  the  shoes,  exposing  a 
tanned  and  bluish  skin.  For  about  half  the  year 
he  went  barefoot. 

There  were  schools,  primitive  and  inadequate, 
indeed,  as  we  shall  presently  see,  but  "  the  little 
red  schoolhouse  on  the  hill,"  with  the  stars  and 
stripes  floating  proudly  above  it,  was  not  of  that 
day.  There  were  itinerant  preachers  who  went 
from  one  locality  to  another,  holding  "revival 
meetings."  But  church  buildings  were  rare  and, 
to  say  the  least,  not  of  artistic  design.  There 
were  no  regular  means  of  travel,  and  even  the 
"star  route"  of  the  post-oflfice  department  was 
slow  in  reaching  those  secluded  communities. 

Into  such  circumstances  and  conditions  Lincoln 
was  born  and  grew  into  manhood. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  LINCOLN  FAMILY. 

When  one  becomes  interested  in  a  boy,  one  is 
almost  certain  to  ask,  Whose  son  is  he  ?  And 
when  we  study  the  character  of  a  great  man,  it 
is  natural  and  right  that  we  should  be  interested 
in  his  family.  Where  did  he  come  from  ?  who 
were  his  parents  ?  where  did  they  come  from  ? 
These  questions  will  engage  our  attention  in  this 
chapter. 

But  it  is  well  to  be  on  our  guard  at  the  outset 
against  the  fascinations  of  any  theory  of  heredity. 
Every  thoughtful  observer  knows  something  of 
the  seductions  of  this  subject  either  from  experi- 
ence or  from  observation.  In  every  subject  of 
research  there  is  danger  of  claiming  too  much  in 
order  to  magnify  the  theory.  This  is  emphati- 
cally true  of  this  theory.  Its  devotees  note  the 
hits  but  not  the  misses.  "  It  took  five  genera- 
tions of  cultured  clergymen  to  produce  an  Emer- 
son."    Undoubtedly  ;  but  what  of  the  sixth  and 

seventh  generations  ?     "  Darwin's  greatness  came 
8 


THE  LINCOLN  FAMILY.  9 

from  his  father  and  grandfather."    Very  true  ; 
but  are  there  no  more  Darwins  ? 

If  Abraham  Lincoln  got  his  remarkable  char- 
acter from  parents  or  grandparents,  from  whom 
did  he  get  his  physical  stature  ?  His  father  was 
a  little  above  medium  height,  being  five  feet  ten 
and  one-half  inches.  His  mother  was  a  little  less 
than  medium  height,  being  five  feet  five  inches. 
Their  son  was  a  giant,  being  no  less  than  six  feet 
four  inches.  It  is  not  safe  to  account  too  closely 
for  his  physical,  mental,  or  moral  greatness  by 
his  descent.  The  fact  is  that  there  are  too  many 
unexplored  remainders  in  the  factors  of  heredity 
to  make  it  possible  to  apply  the  laws  definitely. 

The  writer  will  therefore  give  a  brief  account 
of  the  Lincoln  family  simply  as  a  matter  of  inter- 
est, and  not  as  a  means  of  proving  or  explaining 
any  natural  law. 

The  future  president  was  descended  from  people 
of  the  middle  class.  There  was  nothing  either  in 
his  family  or  his  surroundings  to  attract  the  at- 
tention even  of  the  closest  observer,  or  to  indicate 
any  material  difference  between  him  and  scores  of 
other  boys  in  the  same  general  locality. 

Lincoln  is  an  old  English  name,  and  in  1638  a 
family  of  the  name  settled  in  Hingham,  Mass., 
near   Boston.      Many  years    later    we  find   the 


10  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ancestors  of  the  president  living  in  Berks  County, 
Pa.  It  is  possible  that  this  family  came  direct 
from  England  ;  but  it  is  probable  that  they  came 
from  Hingham.  Both  in  Hingham  and  in  Berks 
County  there  is  a  frequent  recurrence  of  certain 
scriptural  names,  such  as  Abraham,  Mordecai, 
and  Thomas,  which  seems  to  be  more  than  a 
coincidence. 

From  Berks  County  certain  of  the  family,  who, 
by  the  way,  were  Quakers,  moved  to  Rockingham 
County,  Va.  In  1769  Daniel  Boone,  the  adventu- 
rous pioneer,  opened  up  what  is  now  the  state  of 
Kentucky,  but  was  then  a  part  of  Virginia. 

About  twelve  years  later,  in  1781,  Abraham 
Lincoln,  great  grandfather  of  the  president,  emi- 
grated from  Virginia  into  Kentucky.  People 
have  asked,  in  a  puzzled  manner,  why  did  he 
leave  the  beautiful  Shenandoah  valley  ?  One 
answer  may  be  given  :  The  Ohio  valley  also  is 
beautiful.  During  the  major  portion  of  the  year, 
from  the  budding  of  the  leaves  in  April  until  they 
pass  away  in  the  blaze  of  their  autumn  glory,  the 
entire  region  is  simply  bewitching.  No  hills  curve 
more  gracefully,  no  atmosphere  is  more  soft,  no 
watercourses  are  more  enticing.  Into  this  region 
came  the  Virginian  family,  consisting,  besides 
the  parents,  of  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 


THE  LINCOLN  FAMILY.  H 

A  year  or  two  later  the  head  of  the  family  was 
murdered  by  a  skulking  Indian,  who  proceeded  to 
kidnap  the  youngest  son,  Thomas.  The  oldest 
son,  Mordecai,  quickly  obtained  a  gun  and  killed 
the  Indian,  thus  avenging  his  father  and  rescuing 
his  little  brother. 

This  boy  Thomas  was  father  of  the  president. 
He  has  been  called  by  some  writers  shiftless  and 
densely  ignorant.  But  he  seems  to  have  been 
more  a  creature  of  circumstances.  There  were 
no  schools,  and  he,  consequently,  did  not  go  to 
school.  There  was  no  steady  employment,  and 
consequently  he  had  no  steady  employment.  It  is 
difficult  to  see  how  he  could  have  done  better. 
He  could  shoot  and  keep  the  family  supplied  with 
wild  game.  He  did  odd  jobs  as  opportunity 
opened  and  "  just  growed." 

But  he  had  force  enough  to  learn  to  read  and 
write  after  his  marriage.  He  had  the  roving 
disposition  which  is,  and  always  has  been,  a  trait 
of  pioneers.  But  this  must  be  interpreted  by  the 
fact  that  he  was  optimistic  rather  than  pessi- 
mistic. He  removed  to  Indiana  because,  to  him, 
Indiana  was  the  most  glorious  place  in  the  whole 
world.  He  later  removed  to  Illinois  because  that 
was  more  glorious  yet. 

He  certainly  showed  good  taste  in  the  selection 


12  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

of  his  wives,  and  what  is  equally  to  the  purpose, 
was  able  to  persuade  them  to  share  his  humble 
lot.  He  had  an  unfailing  stock  of  good  nature, 
was  expert  in  telling  a  humorous  story,  was  per- 
fectly at  home  in  the  woods,  a  fair  carpenter  and 
a  good  farmer  ;  and  in  short  was  as  agreeable  a 
companion  as  one  would  find  in  a  day's  journey. 
He  would  not  have  been  at  home  in  a  library,  but 
he  was  at  home  in  the  forest. 

In  1806  he  married  Nancy  Hanks,  a  young 
woman  from  Virginia,  who  became  the  mother 
of  the  president.  Doubtless  there  are  many 
women  among  the  obscure  who  are  as  true  and 
loyal  as  she  was,  but  whose  life  is  not  brought 
into  publicity.  Still,  without  either  comparing 
or  contrasting  her  with  others,  we  may  attest  our 
admiration  of  this  one  as  a  "  woman  nobly 
planned."  In  the  midst  of  her  household  cares, 
which  were  neither  few  nor  light,  she  had  the 
courage  to  undertake  to  teach  her  husband  to  read 
and  write.  She  also  gave  her  children  a  start  in 
learning.  Of  her  the  president,  nearly  half  a 
century  after  her  death,  said  to  Seward,  with 
tears, — "All  that  I  am  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to 
my  angel  mother— blessings  on  her  memory." 

Mr.  Lincoln  himself  never  manifested  much 
interest  in  his  genealogy.     At  one  time  he  did  give 


THE  LINCOLN  FAMILY.  13 

out  a  brief  statement  concerning  his  ancestors 
because  it  seemed  to  be  demanded  by  the  exe- 
gencies  of  the  campaign.  But  at  another  time, 
when  questioned  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Scripps,  editor 
of  the  Chicago  Tribune,  he  answered  :  "  Why, 
Scripps,  it  is  a  great  piece  of  folly  to  attempt  to 
make  anything  out  of  me  or  my  early  life.  It 
can  all  be  condensed  into  a  single  sentence,  and 
that  sentence  you  will  find  in  Gray's  Elegy  : 

** '  The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor.' 

That's  my  life,  and  that's  all  you  or  any  one  else 
can  make  out  of  it. " 

In  all  this  he  was  neither  proud  nor  depreciative 
of  his  people.  He  was  simply  modest.  Nor  did 
he  ever  outgrow  his  sympathy  with  the  common 
people. 


CHAPTER  III. 

EARLY  YEARS. 

The  year  1809  was  fruitful  in  the  birth  of  great 
men  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  In  that  year  were 
born  Charles  Darwin,  scientist,  Alfred  Tennyson, 
poet,  William  E.  Gladstone,  statesman,  and,  not 
least,  Abraham  Lincoln,  liberator. 

Thomas  Lincoln  was  left  fatherless  in  early  boy- 
hood, and  grew  up  without  any  schooling  or  any 
definite  work.  For  the  most  part  he  did  odd  jobs 
as  they  were  offered.  He  called  himself  a  car- 
penter. But  in  a  day  when  the  outfit  of  tools 
numbered  only  about  a  half  dozen,  and  when 
every  man  was  mainly  his  own  carpenter,  this 
trade  could  not  amount  to  much.  Employment 
was  unsteady  and  pay  was  small. 

Thomas  Lincoln,  after  his  marriage  to  Nancy 

Hanks,  lived  in   Elizabethtown,  Ky.,  where  the 

first  child,  Sarah,  was  born.     Shortly  after  this 

event  he  decided  to  combine  farming  with   his 

trade  of  carpentering,  and  so  removed  to  a  farm 

fourteen  miles  out,  situated  in  what  is  now  La 
14 


EARLY  YEARS. 


15 


Eue  County,  where  bis  wife,  on  the  twelfth  day  of 
February,  1809,  gave  birth  to  the  son  who  was 
named  Abraham  after  his  grandfather.  The 
child  was  born  in  a  log  cabin  of  a  kind  very 
common  in  that  day  and  for  many  years  later. 


I 


Lincoln's  Boyhood  Home  in  Kentucky. 

It  was  built  four-square  and  comprised  only  one 
room,  one  window,  and  a  door. 

Here  they  lived  for  a  little  more  than  four 
years,  when  the  father  removed  to  another  farm 
about  fifteen  miles  further  to  the  northeast. 


16  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  occasion  of  this  removal  and  of  the  subse- 
quent one,  two  or  three  years  later,  was  undoubt- 
edly the  uncertainty  of  land  titles  in  Kentucky 
in  that  day.  This  "  roving  disposition  "  cannot 
fairly  be  charged  to  shiftlessness.  In  spite  of  the 
extraordinary  disadvantages  of  Thomas  Lincoln's 
early  life,  he  lived  as  well  as  his  neighbors,  though 
that  was  humble  enough,  and  accumulated  a  small 
amount  of  property  in  spite  of  the  low  rate  of 
compensation. 

In  the  year  18 16  Thomas  determined  to  migrate 
to  Indiana.  He  sold  out  his  farm,  receiving  for 
it  the  equivalent  of  $300.  Of  this  sum,  $20  was 
in  cash  and  the  rest  was  in  whisky — ten  barrels 
— which  passed  as  a  kind  of  currency  in  that  day. 
He  then  loaded  the  bulk  of  his  goods  upon  a  flat 
boat,  floating  down  the  stream  called  Kolling 
Fork  into  Salt  Creek,  thence  into  the  Ohio  River, 
in  fact,  to  the  bottom  of  that  river.  The  water- 
course was  obstructed  with  stumps  and  snags 
of  divers  sorts,  and  especially  with  "sawyers," 
or  trees  in  the  river  which,  forced  by  the  current, 
make  an  up-and-down  motion  like  that  of  a  man 
sawing  wood. 

The  flat  boat  became  entangled  in  these  ob- 
structions and  was  upset,  and  the  cargo  went  to 
the  bottom.    By  dint  of  great  labor  much  of  this 


EARLY  YEARS.  17 

was  rescued  and  the  travelers  pushed  on  as  far 
as  Thompson's  Ferry  in  Perry  County,  Indiana. 
There  the  cargo  was  left  in  the  charge  of  friends, 
and  Lincoln  returned  for  his  family  and  the  rest 
of  his  goods. 

During  his  father's  absence,  the  boy  Abe  had 
his  first  observation  of  sorrow.  A  brother  had 
been  born  in  the  cabin  and  had  died  in  infancy. 
The  little  grave  was  in  the  wilderness,  and  before 
leaving  that  country  forever,  the  mother,  leading 
her  six-year-old  boy  by  the  hand,  paid  a  farewell 
visit  to  the  grave.  The  child  beheld  with  awe 
the  silent  grief  of  the  mother  and  carried  in  his 
memory  that  scene  to  his  dying  day. 

The  father  returned  with  glowing  accounts  of 
the  new  home.  The  family  and  the  furniture, — to 
use  so  dignified  a  name  for  such  meager  posses- 
sions,— were  loaded  into  a  wagon  or  a  cart,  and 
they  were  soon  on  the  way  to  their  new  home. 

The  traveling  was  slow,  but  the  weather  was 
fine,  the  journey  prosperous,  and  they  arrived 
duly  at  their  destination.  They  pushed  north- 
ward, or  back  from  the  river,  about  eighteen 
miles  into  the  woods  and  settled  in  Spencer 
County  near  to  a  hamlet  named  Gentryville. 
Here  they  established  their  home. 

The  first  thing,  of  course,  was  to  stake  off  the 


18  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

land,  enter  the  claim,  and  pay  the  government 
fee  at  the  United  States  Land  Office  at  Vincennes. 
The  amount  of  land  was  one  quarter  section,  or 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 

The  next  thing  was  to  erect  a  cabin.  In  this 
case  the  cabin  consisted  of  what  was  called  a  half- 
faced  camp.  That  is,  the  structure  was  entirely 
open  on  one  of  its  four  sides.  This  was  at  the 
lower  side  of  the  roof,  and  the  opening  was  partly 
concealed  by  the  hanging  of  the  skins  of  deer  and 
other  wild  animals.  This  open  face  fully  supplied 
all  need  of  door  and  window. 

The  structure  was  built  four  square,  fourteen 
feet  each  way.  Posts  were  set  up  at  the  corners, 
then  the  sides  were  made  of  poles  placed  as  near 
together  as  possible.  The  interstices  were  filled 
in  with  chips  and  clay,  which  was  called  "chink- 
ing." The  fireplace  and  chimney  were  built  at 
the  back  and  outside.  The  chief  advantage  of 
this  style  of  domicile  is  that  it  provides  plenty 
of  fresh  air.  With  one  side  of  the  room  entirely 
open,  and  with  a  huge  fireplace  at  the  other  side, 
the  sanitary  problem  of  ventilation  was  solved. 

There  were  no  Brussels  carpets,  no  Persian 
rugs,  no  hardwood  floors.  The  bare  soil  was 
pounded  hard,  and  that  was  the  floor.  There 
were  two  beds  in   the  two  rear  corners  of  the 


EARLY  YEARS.  19 

rooms.  The  corner  position  saved  both  space  and 
labor.  Two  sides  of  the  bed  were  composed  of 
parts  of  the  two  walls.  At  the  opposite  angle  a 
stake,  with  a  forked  top,  was  driven  into  the 
ground,  and  from  this  to  the  walls  were  laid  two 
poles  at  right  angles.  This  made  the  frame  of 
the  bed.  Then  ''shakes,"  or  large  hand-made 
shingles,  were  placed  crosswise.  Upon  these  were 
laid  the  ticks  filled  with  feathers  or  corn  husks, 
and  the  couch  was  complete.  Not  stylish,  but 
healthful  and  comfortable. 

The  produce  of  his  farm  was  chiefly  corn, 
though  a  little  wheat  was  raised  for  a  change  of 
diet.  Doubtless  there  were  enough  of  the  staple 
vegetables  which  grow  easily  in  that  country. 
Butcher  shops  were  not  needed,  owing  to  the 
abundance  of  wild  game. 

The  principal  portion  of  the  life  of  the  average 
boy  concerns  his  schooling.  As  nearly  as  can  be 
determined  the  aggregate  of  young  Lincoln's 
schooling  was  about  one  year,  and  this  was 
divided  between  five  teachers — an  average  of  less 
than  three  months  to  each — and  spread  out  over 
as  many  years.  The  branches  taught  were 
"readin',  writin',  and  cipherin'  to  the  rule  of 
three."  Any  young  man  who  happened  along 
with  a  fair  knowledge  of  the  three  great  R's  — 


20  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  Readin',  'Ritin',  and  '  Ritlimetic  " — was  thought 
fit  to  set  up  a  school,  taking  his  small  pay  in 
cash  and  boarding  around — that  is,  spending  one 
day  or  more  at  a  time  as  the  guest  of  each  of  his 
patrons. 

There  was  nothing  of  special  interest  in  any  of 
these  teachers,  but  their  names  are  preserved 
simply  because  the  fact  that  they  did  teach  him 
is  a  matter  of  great  interest.  The  first  teacher 
was  Zachariah  Riney,  a  Roman  Catholic,  from 
whose  schoolroom  the  Protestants  were  excluded, 
or  excused,  during  the  opening  exercises.  Then 
came  Caleb  Hazel.  These  were  in  Kentucky,  and 
therefore  their  instruction  of  Lincoln  must  have 
come  to  an  end  by  the  time  he  was  seven  years 
old.  When  ten  years  old  he  studied  under  one 
Dorsey,  when  about  fourteen  under  Crawford, 
and  when  sixteen  under  Swaney. 

It  can  hardly  be  doubted  that  his  mother's  in- 
struction was  of  more  worth  than  all  these  put 
together.  A  woman  who,  under  such  limitations, 
had  energy  enough  to  teach  her  husband  to  read 
and  write,  was  a  rare  character,  and  her  in- 
fluence could  not  be  other  than  invaluable  to  the 
bright  boy.  Charles  Lamb  classified  all  literature 
in  two  divisions:  "Books  that  are  not  books, 
and  books  that  are  books."    It  is  important  that 


EARLY  YEARS.  21 

every  boy  learn  to  read.  But  a  far  more  impor- 
tant question  is,  What  use  does  he  make  of  his 
ability  to  read?  Does  he  read  ''books  that  are 
books  ? "  Let  us  now  see  what  use  Lincoln  made 
of  his  knowledge  of  reading. 

In  those  days  books  were  rare  and  his  library 
was  small  and  select.  It  consisted  at  first  of 
three  volumes  :  The  Bible,  ^sop's  Fables  and 
Pilgrim's  Progress.  Some-time  in  the  eighties  a 
prominent  magazine  published  a  series  of  articles 
written  by  men  of  eminence  in  the  various  walks 
of  life,  under  the  title  of  "  Books  that  have 
helped  me."  The  most  noticeable  fact  was  that 
each  of  these  eminent  men — men  who  had  read 
hundreds  of  books — specified  not  more  than  three 
or  four  books.  Lincoln's  first  list  was  of  three. 
They  were  emphatically  books.  Day  after  day 
he  read,  pondered  and  inwardly  digested  them 
until  they  were  his  own.  Better  books  he  could 
not  have  found  in  all  the  universities  of  Europe, 
and  we  begin  to  understand  where  he  got  his 
moral  vision,  his  precision  of  English  style,  and 
his  shrewd  humor. 

Later  he  borrowed  from  a  neighbor,  Josiah 
Crawford,  a  copy  of  Weems'  Life  of  Washington. 
In  lieu  of  a  bookcase  he  tucked  this,  one  night, 
into  the  chinking  of   the  cabin.     A    rain-storm 


22  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

came  up  and  soaked  the  book  through  and  through. 
By  morning  it  presented  a  sorry  appearance.  The 
damage  was  done  and  could  not  be  repaired. 
Crestfallen  the  lad  carried  it  back  to  the  owner 
and,  having  no  money,  offered  to  pay  for  the 
mischief  in  work.  Crawford  agreed  and  named 
seventy-five  cents  (in  labor)  as  a  fair  sum. 

"Does  this  pay  for  the  book,"  the  borrower 
asked,  ' '  or  only  for  the  damage  to  the  book  ? " 
Crawford  reckoned  that  the  book  "  wa'n't  of  much 
account  to  him  nor  to  any  one  else."  So  Lincoln 
cheerfully  did  the  work — it  was  for  three  days 
— and  owned  the  book. 

Later  he  had  a  life  of  Henry  Clay,  whom  he 
nearly  idolized.  His  one  poet  was  Burns,  whom 
he  knew  by  heart  "  from  a  to  izzard."  Through- 
out his  life  he  ranked  Burns  next  to  Shakspeare. 

The  hymns  which  he  most  loved  must  have 
had  influence  not  only  on  his  religious  spirit,  but 
also  on  his  literary  taste.  Those  which  are  men- 
tioned are,  "  Am  I  a  soldier  of  the  cross  ?  "  "  How 
tedious  and  tasteless  the  hours,"  "There  is  a 
fountain  filled  with  blood,"  and  "Alas,  and  did 
my  Saviour  bleed  ?  "  Good  hymns  every  one  of 
them,  in  that  day,  or  in  any  day. 

Having  no  slate  he  did  his  "  sums"  in  the  sand 
on  the  ground,  or  on  a  wooden  shovel  which, 


EARLY  YEARS.  23 

after  it  was  covered  on  both  sides,  he  scraped  down 
so  as  to  erase  the  work.  A  note-book  is  pre- 
served, containing,  along  with  examples  in  arith- 
metic,  this  boyish  doggerel : 

Abraham  Lincoln 
his  hand  and  pen 
he  will  be  good  but 
god  knows  "When. 

The  penmanship  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to 
that  in  later  life. 


Lincoln's  Early  Home  in  Indiana. 


About  a  year  after  Thomas  Lincoln's  family 
settled  in  Indiana,  they  were  followed  by  some 
neighbors,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparrow  and  Dennis 
Hanks,  a  child.    To  these  the  Lincolns  surrendered 


24  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

their  camp  and  built  for  themselves  a  cabin,  which 
was  slightly  more  pretentious  than  the  first.  It 
had  an  attic,  and  for  a  stairway  there  were  pegs 
in  the  wall  up  which  an  active  boy  could  readily 
climb.  There  was  a  stationary  table,  the  legs 
being  driven  into  the  ground,  some  three-legged 
stools,  and  a  Dutch  oven. 

In  the  year  1818  a  mysterious  epidemic  passed 
over  the  region,  working  havoc  with  men  and 
cattle.  It  was  called  the  "  milk-sick."  Just  what 
it  was  physicians  are  unable  to  determine,  but  it 
was  very  destructive.  Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sparrow 
were  attacked.  They  were  removed,  for  better 
care,  to  the  home  of  the  Lincolns,  where  they 
shortly  died.  By  this  time  Mrs.  Lincoln  was 
down  with  the  same  scourge.  There  was  no 
doctor  to  be  had,  the  nearest  one  being  thirty-five 
miles  away.  Probably  it  made  no  difference.  At 
all  events  she  soon  died  and  the  future  president 
passed  into  his  first  sorrow. 

The  widowed  husband  was  undertaker.  With 
his  own  hands  he  "rived"  the  planks,  made  the 
coffin,  and  buried  Nancy  Hanks,  that  remarkable 
woman.  There  was  no  pastor,  no  funeral  service. 
The  grave  was  marked  by  a  wooden  slab,  which, 
long  years  after,  in  1879,  was  replaced  by  a  stone 
suitably  inscribed. 


EARLY  YEARS.  25 

A  traveling  preacher  known  as  Parson  Elkin 
had  occasionally  preached  in  the  neighborhood  of 
the  Lincolns  in  Kentucky.  The  young  boy  now 
put  to  use  his  knowledge  of  writing.  He  wrote 
a  letter  to  the  parson  inviting  him  to  come  over 
and  preach  the  funeral  sermon.  How  he  contrived 
to  get  the  letter  to  its  destination  we  do  not  know, 
but  it  was  done.  The  kind-hearted  preacher 
cheerfully  consented,  though  it  involved  a  long 
and  hard  journey.  He  came  at  his  earliest  con- 
venience, which  was  some  time  the  next  year. 

There  was  no  church  in  which  to  hold  the 
service.  Lincoln  never  saw  a  church  building  of 
any  description  until  he  was  grown.  But  the 
neighbors  to  the  number  of  about  two  hundred 
assembled  under  the  trees,  where  the  parson 
delivered  the  memorial  sermon. 

Lincoln  was  nine  years  old  when  his  mother 
died,  October  5th,  1818.  Her  lot  was  hard,  her 
horizon  was  narrow,  her  opportunities  were  re- 
stricted, her  life  was  one  of  toil  and  poverty.  All 
through  her  life  and  after  her  untimely  death, 
many  people  would  have  said  that  she  had  had  at 
best  but  a  poor  chance  in  the  world.  Surely  no 
one  would  have  predicted  that  her  name  would 
come  to  be  known  and  reverenced  from  ocean  to 
ocean.     But  she   was  faithful,   brave,   cheerful. 


26  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

She  did  her  duty  lovingly.  In  later  years  the 
nation  joined  with  her  son  in  paying  honor  to  the 
memory  of  this  noble,  overworked,  uncomplain- 
ing woman. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

m  INDIANA. 

The  death  of  his  wife  had  left  Thomas  Lincoln 
with  the  care  of  three  young  children  :  namely, 
Sarah,  about  eleven  years  old,  Abe,  ten  years  old, 
and  the  foster  brother,  Dennis  (Friend)  Hanks,  a 
year  or  two  younger.  The  father  was  not  able  to 
do  woman's  work  as  well  as  his  wife  had  been 
able  to  do  man's  work,  and  the  condition  of  the 
home  was  pitiable  indeed.  To  the  three  mother- 
less children  and  the  bereaved  father  it  was  a  long 
and  dreary  winter.  When  spring  came  they  had 
the  benefits  of  life  in  the  woods  and  fields,  and  so 
lived  through  the  season  until  the  edge  of  the 
following  winter.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  the  father  was  unwilling  to  repeat  the  lone- 
liness of  the  preceding  year. 

Early  in  December,  1819,  he  returned  to  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Ky.,  and  proposed  marriage  to  a  widow, 
Mrs.  Sally  Bush  Johnston.     The  proposal  must 

have  been  direct,  with  few  preliminaries  or  none, 

37 


28  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

for  the  couple  were  married  next  morning.  The 
new  wife  brought  him  a  fortune,  in  addition  to 
three  children  of  various  ages,  of  sundry  articles 
of  household  furniture.  Parents,  children,  and 
goods  were  shortly  after  loaded  into  a  wagon 
drawn  by  a  four-horse  team,  and  in  all  the  style 
of  this  frontier  four-in-hand,  were  driven  over 
indescribable  roads,  through  woods  and  fields,  to 
their  Indiana  home. 

The  accession  of  Sally  Bush's  furniture  made  an 
important  improvement  in  the  home.  What  was 
more  important,  she  had  her  husband  finish  the 
log  cabin  by  providing  window,  door,  and  floor. 
What  was  most  important  of  all,  she  brought  the 
sweet  spirit  of  an  almost  ideal  motherhood  into 
the  home,  giving  to  all  the  children  alike  a  gen- 
erous portion  of  mother-love. 

The  children  now  numbered  six,  and  not  only 
were  they  company  for  one  another,  but  the 
craving  for  womanly  affection,  which  is  the  most 
persistent  hunger  of  the  heart  of  child  or  man, 
was  beautifully  met-  She  did  not  humor  them 
to  the  point  of  idleness,  but  wisely  ruled  with 
strictness  without  imperiousness.  She  kept  them 
from  bad  habits  and  retained  their  affection  to 
the  last.  The  influence  upon  the  growing  lad  of 
two  such  women  as  Nancy  Hanks  and  Sally  Bush 


IN  INDIANA.  29 

was  worth  more  than  that  of  the  best  appointed 
college  in  all  the  land. 

The  boy  grew  into  youth,  and  he  grew  very 
fast.  While  still  in  his  teens  he  reached  the  full 
stature  of  his  manhood,  six  feet  and  four  inches. 
His  strength  was  astonishing,  and  many  stories 
were  told  of  this  and  subsequent  periods  to  illus- 
trate his  physical  prowess,  such  as  :  he  once  lifted 
up  a  hencoop  weighing  six  hundred  pounds  and 
carried  it  off  bodily  ;  he  could  lift  a  full  barrel  of 
cider  to  his  mouth  and  drink  from  the  bung-hole  ; 
he  could  sink  an  ax-helve  deeper  into  a  log  than 
any  man  in  the  country. 

During  the  period  of  his  growth  into  youth  he 
spent  much  of  his  time  in  reading,  talking,  and, 
after  a  fashion,  making  speeches.  He  also  wrote 
some.  His  political  writings  won  great  admira- 
tion from  his  neighbors.  He  occasionally  wrote 
satires  which,  while  not  refined,  were  very  sting- 
ing. This  would  not  be  worth  mentioning  were 
it  not  for  the  fact  that  it  shows  that  from  boyhood 
he  knew  the  force  of  this  formidable  weapon 
which  later  he  used  with  so  much  skill.  The 
country  store  furnished  the  frontier  substitute 
for  the  club,  and  there  the  men  were  wont  to 
congregate.  It  is  needless  to  say  that  young 
Lincoln  was.  the  life  of  the  gatherings,  being  an 


30  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

expert  in  the  telling  of  a  humorous  story  and 
having  always  a  plentiful  supply.  His  speech- 
making  proved  so  attractive  that  his  father  was 
forced  to  forbid  him  to  practise  it  during  working 
hours  because  the  men  would  always  leave  their 
work  to  listen  to  him. 

During  these  years  he  had  no  regular  employ- 
ment, but  did  odd  jobs  wherever  he  got  a  chance. 
At  one  time,  for  example,  he  worked  on  a  ferry- 
boat for  the  munificent  wages  of  thirty- seven  and 
one  half  cents  a  day. 

When  sixteen  years  old,  Lincoln  had  his  first 
lesson  in  oratory.  He  attended  court  at  Boonville, 
county  seat  of  Warwick  County  and  heard  a  case 
in  which  one  of  the  aristocratic  Breckenridges  of 
Kentucky  was  attorney  for  the  defense.  The 
power  of  his  oratory  was  a  revelation  to  the  lad. 
At  its  conclusion  the  awkward,  ill-dressed,  bash- 
ful but  enthusiastic  young  Lincoln  pressed 
forward  to  offer  his  congratulations  and  thanks 
to  the  eloquent  lawyer,  who  haughtily  brushed 
by  him  without  accepting  the  proffered  hand.  In 
later  years  the  men  met  again,  this  time  in  Wash- 
ington Citj^,  in  the  white  house.  The  president 
reminded  Breckenridge  of  the  incident  which  the 
latter  had  no  desire  to  recall. 

When  about  nineteen  years  old,  he  made  his 


IN  INDIANA.  3X 

first  voyage  down  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers. 
Two  incidents  are  worth  recording  of  this  trip. 
The  purpose  was  to  find,  in  New  Orleans,  a  market 
for  produce,  which  was  simply  floated  down  stream 
on  a  flat-boat.  There  was,  of  course,  a  row-boat 
for  tender.  The  crew  consisted  of  himself  and 
young  Gentry,  son  of  his  employer. 

Near  Baton  Rouge  they  had  tied  up  for  the 
night  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  flat-boat 
navigation.  During  the  night  they  were  awak- 
ened by  a  gang  of  seven  rufifian  negroes  who  had 
come  aboard  to  loot  the  stuff.  Lincoln  shouted 
"  Who's  there  ?  "  Receiving  no  reply  he  seized 
a  handspike  and  knocked  over  the  first,  second, 
third,  and  fourth  in  turn,  when  the  remaining 
three  took  to  the  woods.  The  two  northerners 
pursued  them  a  short  distance,  then  returned, 
loosed  their  craft  and  floated  safely  to  their  des- 
tination. 

It  was  on  this  trip  that  Lincoln  earned  his  first 
dollar,  as  he  in  after  years  related  to  William  H, 
Seward  : 

"...  A  steamer  was  going  down  the  river. 
We  have,  you  know,  no  wharves  on  the  western 
streams,  and  the  custom  was,  if  passengers  were 
at  any  of  the  landings,  they  were  to  go  out  in  a 
boat,  the  steamer  stopping  and  taking  them  on 


32  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

board.  .  .  .  Two  men  with  trunks  came  down 
to  the  shore  in  carriages,  and  looking  at  the  dif- 
ferent boats,  singled  out  mine,  and  asked,  '  Who 
owns  this  ? '  I  modestly  answered,  '  I  do.'  '  Will 
you  take  us  and  our  trunks  out  to  the  steamer  ? ' 
'Certainly.'  .  .  .  The  trunks  were  put  in  my 
boat,  the  passengers  seated  themselves  on  them, 
and  I  sculled  them  out  to  the  steamer.  They  got 
on  board,  and  I  lifted  the  trunks  and  put  them 
on  the  deck.  The  steamer  was  about  to  put  on 
steam  again,  when  I  called  out :  '  You  have  for- 
gotten to  pay  me.'  Each  of  them  took  from  his 
pocket  a  silver  half  dollar  and  threw  it  on  the 
bottom  of  my  boat.  I  could  scarcely  believe  my 
eyes  as  I  picked  up  the  money.  You  may  think 
it  was  a  very  little  thing,  and  in  these  days  it 
seems  to  me  like  a  trifle,  but  it  w^as  a  most  im- 
portant incident  in  my  life.  I  could  scarcely 
credit  that  I,  a  poor  boy,  had  earned  a  dollar  in 
less  than  a  day  ;  that  by  honest  work  I  had  earned 
a  dollar.  I  was  a  more  hopeful  and  thoughtful 
boy  from  that  time." 

The  goods  were  sold  profitably  at  New  Orleans 
and  the  return  trip  was  made  by  steamboat. 
This  was  about  twenty  years  after  Fulton's  first 
voyage  from  New  York  to  Albany,  which  required 
seven  days.     Steamboats  had  been  put  on  the 


IN  INDIANA.  33 

Ohio  and  Mississippi  rivers,  but  these  crafts  were 
of  primitive  coustruction — awkward  as  to  shape 
and  slow  as  to  speed.  The  frequency  of  boiler 
explosions  was  proverbial  for  many  years.  The 
lads,  Gentry  and  Lincoln,  returned  home  duly 
and  the  employer  was  well  satisfied  with  the  re- 
sults of  the  expedition. 

In  1830  the  epidemic  "milk  sick"  reappeared 
in  Indiana,  and  Thomas  Lincoln  had  a  pardonable 
desire  to  get  out  of  the  country.  Illinois  was  at 
that  time  settling  up  rapidly  and  there  were  glow- 
ing accounts  of  its  desirableness.  Thomas  Lin- 
coln's decision  to  move  on  to  the  new  land  of 
promise  was  reasonable.  He  sold  out  and  started 
with  his  family  and  household  goods  to  his  new 
destination.  The  time  of  year  was  March,  just 
when  the  frost  is  coming  out  of  the  ground  so 
that  the  mud  is  apparently  bottomless.  The 
author  will  not  attempt  to  describe  it,  for  he  has 
in  boyhood  seen  it  many  times  and  knows  it  to  be 
indescribable.  It  was  Abe's  duty  to  drive  the  four 
yoke  of  oxen,  a  task  which  must  have  strained 
even  his  patience. 

They  settled  in  Macon  County,  near  Decatur. 

There  the  son  faithfully  worked  with  his  father 

until  the  family  was  fairly  settled,  then  started 

out  in  life  for  himself.     For  he  had  now  reached 
3 


34  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  age  of  twenty-one.  As  he  had  passed  through 
the  periods  of  childhood  and  youth,  and  was  on 
the  threshold  of  manhood,  it  is  right  and  fitting 
to  receive  at  this  point  the  testimony  of  Sally 
Bush,  his  stepmother : 

"Abe  was  a  good  boy,  and  I  can  say  what 
scarcely  one  woman — a  mother — can  say  in  a 
thousand  :  Abe  never  gave  me  a  cross  word  or 
look,  and  never  refused,  in  fact  or  appearance,  to 
do  anything  I  requested  him.  I  never  gave  him 
a  cross  word  in  all  my  life.  .  .  .  He  was  a  dutiful 
son  to  me  always.  I  think  he  loved  me  truly.  I 
had  a  son  John  who  was  raised  with  Abe.  Both 
were  good  boys  ;  but  I  must  say,  both  being  now 
dead,  that  Abe  was  the  best  boy  I  ever  saw,  or 
expect  to  see." 

These  words  of  praise  redound  to  the  honor  of 
the  speaker  equally  with  that  of  her  illustrious 
stepson. 

Lincoln  came  into  the  estate  of  manhood  mor- 
ally clean.  He  had  formed  no  habits  that  would 
cause  years  of  struggle  to  overcome,  he  had  com- 
mitted no  deed  that  would  bring  the  blush  of 
shame  to  his  cheek,  he  was  as  free  from  vice 
as  from  crime.  He  was  not  profane,  he  had 
never  tasted  liquor,  he  was  no  brawler,  he  never 
gambled,  he  was  honest  and  truthful.    On  the 


IN  INDIANA.  35 

other  hand,  he  had  a  genius  for  making  friends, 
he  was  the  center  of  every  social  circle,  he  was 
a  good  talker  and  a  close  reasoner.  Without  a 
thought  of  the  great  responsibilities  awaiting 
him,  he  had  thus  far  fitted  himself  well  by  his 
faithfulness  in  such  duties  as  fell  to  him. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SECOND  JOURNEY  TO  NEW  ORLEANS. 

The  first  winter  in  Illinois,  1830-31,  was  one  of 
those  epochal  seasons  which  come  to  all  commu- 
nities. It  is  remembered  by  "the  oldest  inhab- 
itant "  to  this  day  for  the  extraordinary  amount 
of  snow  that  fell.  There  is  little  doing  in  such  a 
community  during  any  winter ;  but  in  such  a 
winter  as  that  there  was  practically  nothing 
doing.  Lincoln  always  held  himself  ready  to 
accept  any  opportunity  for  work,  but  there  was 
no  opening  that  winter.  The  only  thing  he 
accomplished  was  what  he  did  every  winter  and 
every  summer  of  his  life  :  namely,  he  made  many 
friends. 

When  spring  opened,  Denton  Offutt  decided  to 

send  a  cargo  of  merchandise  down  to  New  Orleans. 

Hearing  that  Lincoln,   John  Hanks,   and  John 

Johnston  were  "likely  boys,"  he  employed  them 

to  take  charge  of  the  enterprise.     Their  pay  was 

to  be  fifty  cents  a  day  and  "  found,"  and,  if  the 

enterprise  proved  successful,  an  additional  sum 
36 


SECOND  JOURNEY  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  37 

of  twenty  dollars.  Lincoln  said  that  none  of 
them  had  ever  seen  so  much  money  at  one  time, 
and  they  were  glad  to  accept  the  offer. 

Two  events  occurred  during  this  trip  which  are 
of  sufficient  interest  to  bear  narration. 

The  boat  with  its  cargo  had  been  set  afloat  in 
the  Sangamon  River  at  Springfield.  All  went 
well  until,  at  New  Salem,  they  came  to  a  mill 
dam  where,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  water 
was  high,  owing  to  the  spring  floods,  the  boat 
stuck.  Lincoln  rolled  his  trousers  "  five  feet  more 
or  less  "  up  his  long,  lank  legs,  waded  out  to  the 
boat,  and  got  the  bow  over  the  dam.  Then, 
without  waiting  to  bail  the  water  out,  he  bored  a 
hole  in  the  bottom  and  let  it  run  out.  He  con- 
structed a  machine  which  lifted  and  pushed  the 
boat  over  the  obstruction,  and  thus  their  voyage 
was  quickly  resumed.  Many  years  later,  when 
he  was  a  practising  lawyer,  he  whittled  out  a 
model  of  his  invention  and  had  it  patented.  The 
model  may  to-day  be  seen  in  the  patent  office  at 
Washington.  The  patent  brought  him  no  for- 
tune, but  it  is  an  interesting  relic. 

This  incident  is  of  itself  entirely  unimportant. 
It  is  narrated  here  solely  because  it  illustrates  one 
trait  of  the  man — his  ingenuity.  He  had  remark- 
able fertility  in  devising  ways  and  means  of  get- 


38  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ting  out  of  unexpected  difficulties.  When,  in 
1860,  the  Ship  of  State  seemed  like  to  run  aground 
hopelessly,  it  was  his  determination  and  ingenuity 
that  averted  total  wreck.  As  in  his  youth  he 
saved  the  flatboat,  so  in  his  mature  years  he 
saved  the  nation. 

The  other  event  was  that  at  New  Orleans,  where 
he  saw  with  his  own  eyes  some  of  the  horrors  of 
slavery.  He  never  could  tolerate  a  moral  wrong. 
At  a  time  when  drinking  was  almost  universal, 
he  was  a  total  abstainer.  Though  born  in  a  slave 
state,  he  had  an  earnest  and  growing  repugnance 
to  slavery.  Still,  up  to  this  time  he  had  never 
seen  much  of  its  workings.  At  this  time  he  saw 
a  slave  market — the  auctioning  off  of  human 
beings. 

The  details  of  this  auction  were  so  coarse  and 
vile  that  it  is  impossible  to  defile  these  pages  with 
an  accurate  and  faithful  description.  Lincoln 
saw  it  all.  He  saw  a  beautiful  mulatto  girl  ex- 
hibited like  a  race-horse,  her  "  points  "  dwelt  on, 
one  by  one,  in  order,  as  the  auctioneer  said,  that 
"  bidders  might  satisfy  themselves  whether  the 
article  they  were  offering  to  buy  was  sound  or 
not."  One  of  his  companions  justly  said  slavery 
ran  the  iron  into  him  then  and  there.  His  soul 
was  stirred  with  a  righteous  indignation.     Turn- 


SECOND  JOURNEY  TO  NEW  ORLEANS.  39 

ing  to  the  others  he  exclaimed  with  a  solemn 
oath  :  "  Boys,  if  ever  I  get  a  chance  to  hit  that 
thing  [slavery]  I'll  hit  it  hard  !  " 

He  bided  his  time.  One-third  of  a  century  later 
he  had  the  chance  to  hit  that  thing.  He  re- 
deemed his  oath.     He  hit  it  hard. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Lincoln  family  in  Illi- 
nois, they  had  the  few  tools  which  would  be  con- 
sidered almost  necessary  to  every  frontiersman  : 
namely,  a  common  ax,  broad-ax,  hand-saw,  whip- 
saw.  The  mauls  and  wedges  were  of  wood  and 
were  made  by  each  workman  for  himself.  To 
this  stock  of  tools  may  also  be  added  a  small  sup- 
ply of  nails  brought  from  Indiana,  for  at  that 
period  nails  were  very  expensive  and  used  with 
the  strictest  economy.  By  means  of  pegs  and 
other  devices  people  managed  to  get  along  with- 
out them. 

When  Abraham  Lincoln  went  to  New  Salem  it 
was  (like  all  frontier  towns)  a  promising  place. 
It  grew  until  it  had  the  enormous  population  of 
about  one  hundred  people,  housed — or  log-cabined 
— in  fifteen  primitive  structures.  The  tributary 
country  was  not  very  important  in  a  commercial 
sense.  To  this  population  no  less  than  four  gen- 
eral stores — that  is,  stores  containing  nearl}'- 
40 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  4I 

everything  that  would  be  needed  in  that  com- 
munity— offered  their  wares. 

The  town  flourished,  at  least  it  lived,  about 
through  the  period  that  Lincoln  dwelt  there,  after 
which  it  disappeared. 

Lincoln  was  ready  to  take  any  work  that  would 
get  him  a  living.  A  neighbor  advised  him  to 
make  use  of  his  great  strength  in  the  work  of  a 
blacksmith.  He  seriously  thought  of  learning 
the  trade,  but  was,  fortunately  for  the  country, 
diverted  from  doing  so. 

The  success  of  the  expedition  to  New  Orleans 
had  won  the  admiration  of  his  employer,  Denton 
Offutt,  and  he  now  offered  Lincoln  a  clerkship 
in  his  prospective  store.  The  offer  was  accepted 
partly  because  it  gave  him  some  time  to  read, 
and  it  was  here  that  he  came  to  know  the  two 
great  poets.  Burns  and  Shakespeare. 

Offutt's  admiration  of  the  young  clerk  did  him 
credit,  but  his  voluble  expression  of  it  was  not 
judicious.  He  bragged  that  Lincoln  was  smart 
enough  to  be  president,  and  that  he  could  run 
faster,  jump  higher,  throw  farther,  and 
*'  wrastle  "  better  than  any  man  in  the  country. 
In  the  neighborhood  there  was  a  gang  of  rowdies, 
kind  at  heart  but  very  rough,  known  as  "the 
Clary's  Grove  boys."    They  took  the  boasting  of 


42  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Offutt  as  a  direct  challenge  to  themselves  and 
eagerly  accepted  it.  So  they  put  up  a  giant  by 
the  name  of  Jack  Armstrong  as  their  champion 
and  arranged  a  "wrastling"  match.  All  went 
indifferently  for  a  while  until  Lincoln  seemed  to 
be  getting  the  better  of  his  antagonist,  when  the 
*' boys"  crowded  in  and  interfered  while  Arm- 
strong attempted  a  foul.  Instantly  Lincoln  was 
furious.  Putting  forth  all  his  strength  he  lifted 
Jack  up  and  shook  him  as  a  terrier  shakes  a 
rat.  The  crowd,  in  their  turn,  became  angry  and 
set  out  to  mob  him.  He  backed  up  against  a  wall 
and  in  hot  indignation  awaited  the  onset.  Arm- 
strong was  the  first  to  recover  his  good  sense. 
Exclaiming,  "  Boys,  Abe  Lincoln's  the  best  fellow 
that  ever  broke  into  the  settlement,"  he  held  out 
his  hand  to  Lincoln  who  received  it  with  perfect 
good  nature.  From  that  day  these  boys  never 
lost  their  admiration  for  him.  He  was  their 
hero.  From  that  day,  too,  he  became  the  per- 
manent umpire,  the  general  peacemaker  of  the 
region.  His  good  nature,  his  self-command,  and 
his  manifest  fairness  placed  his  decisions  beyond 
question.  His  popularity  was  established  once 
for  all  in  the  entire  community. 

There  are  some  anecdotes  connected  with  his 
work  in  the  store  which  are  worth  preserving  be- 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  43 

cause  they  illustrate  traits  of  his  character.  He 
once  sold  a  half  pound  of  tea  to  a  customer.  The 
next  morning  as  he  was  tidying  up  the  store  he 
saw,  by  the  weights  which  remained  in  the  scales, 
that  he  had  inadvertently  given  her  four,  instead 
of  eight,  ounces.  He  instantly  weighed  out  the 
balance  and  carried  it  to  her,  not  waiting  for 
his  breakfast. 

At  another  time  when  he  counted  up  his  cash 
at  night  he  discovered  that  he  had  charged  a 
customer  an  excess  of  six  and  a  quarter  cents. 
He  closed  up  the  store  at  once  and  walked  to  the 
home  of  the  customer,  and  returned  the  money. 
It  was  such  things  as  these,  in  little  matters  as 
well  as  great,  that  gave  him  the  nickname  of 
"honest  Abe  "  which,  to  his  honor  be  it  said, 
clung  to  him  through  life. 

One  incident  illustrates  his  chivalry.  While  he 
was  waiting  upon  some  women,  a  ruffian  came 
into  the  store  using  vulgar  language.  Lincoln 
asked  him  to  desist,  but  he  became  more  abusive 
than  ever.  After  the  women  had  gone,  Lincoln 
took  him  out  of  the  store,  threw  him  on  the 
ground,  rubbed  smartweed  in  his  face  and  eyes 
until  he  howled  for  mercy,  and  then  he  gave  him 
a  lecture  which  did  him  more  practical  good  than 
a  volume  of  Chesterfield's  letters. 


44  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Some  time  after  Offutt's  store  had  "winked 
out,"  while  Lincoln  was  looking  for  employment 
there  came  a  chance  to  buy  one  half  interest  in  a 
store,  the  other  half  being  owned  by  an  idle,  dis- 
solute fellow  named  Berry  who  ultimately  drank 
himself  into  his  grave.  Later,  another  opening 
came  in  the  following  way  :  the  store  of  one 
Radford  had  been  wrecked  by  the  horse-play  of 
some  ruffians,  and  the  lot  was  bought  by  Mr. 
Greene  for  four  hundred  dollars.  He  employed 
Lincoln  to  make  an  invoice  of  the  goods  and  he 
in  turn  offered  Greene  two  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  for  the  bargain  and  the  offer  was  accepted. 
But  even  that  was  not  the  last  investment.  The 
fourth  and  only  remaining  store  in  the  hamlet 
was  owned  by  one  Rutledge.  This  also  was 
bought  out  by  the  firm  of  Berry  &  Lincoln.  Thus 
they  came  to  have  the  monopoly  of  the  mercantile 
business  in  the  hamlet  of  New  Salem. 

Be  it  known  that  in  all  these  transactions  not 
a  dollar  in  money  changed  hands.  Men  bought 
with  promissory  notes  and  sold  for  the  same  con- 
sideration. The  mercantile  venture  was  not  suc- 
cessful. Berry  was  drinking  and  loafing,  and 
Lincoln,  who  did  not  work  as  faithfully  for  him- 
self as  for  another,  was  usually  reading  or  telling 
stories.     So  when  a  couple  of  strangers,  Trent 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  45 

by  name,  offered  to  buy  out  the  store,  the  offer 
was  accepted  and  more  promissory  notes  changed 
hands.  About  the  time  these  last  notes  came 
due,  the  Trent  brothers  disappeared  between  two 
days.     Then  Berry  died. 

The  outcome  of  the  whole  series  of  transactions 
was  that  Lincoln  was  left  with  an  assortment  of 
promissory  notes  bearing  the  names  of  the  Hern- 
dons,  Radford,  Greene,  Rutledge,  Berry,  and  the 
Trents.  With  one  exception,  which  will  be  duly 
narrated,  his  creditors  told  him  to  pay  when  he 
was  able.  He  promised  to  put  all  of  his  earnings, 
in  excess  of  modest  living  expenses,  into  the  pay- 
ment of  these  obligations.  It  was  the  burden  of 
many  years  and  he  always  called  it  "the  national 
debt,"  But  he  kept  his  word,  paying  both  prin- 
cipal and  the  high  rate  of  interest  until  1848,  or 
after  fifteen  years,  when  a  member  of  congress, 
he  paid  the  last  cent.  He  was  still  "honest 
Abe."  This  narrative  ranks  the  backwoodsman 
with  Sir  Walter  Scott  and  Mark  Twain,  though 
no  dinners  were  tendered  to  him  and  no  glowing 
eulogies  were  published  from  ocean  to  ocean. 

His  only  further  experience  in  navigation  was 
the  piloting  of  a  Cincinnati  steamboat,  the  Talis- 
man, up  the  Sangamon  River  (during  the  high 
water  in  spring  time)  to  show  that  that  stream 


46  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  navigable.  Nothing  came  of  it  however, 
and  Springfield  was  never  made  "  the  head  of 
navigation." 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  mercantile  experi- 
ences above  narrated  that  the  Black  Hawk  war 
broke  out.  Black  Hawk  was  chief  of  the  Sac 
Indians,  who,  with  some  neighboring  tribes,  felt 
themselves  wronged  by  the  whites.  Some  of 
them  accordingly  put  on  the  paint,  raised  the 
whoop,  and  entered  the  warpath  in  northern 
Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin.  The  governor 
called  for  soldiers,  and  Lincoln  volunteered  with 
the  rest. 

The  election  of  captain  of  the  company  was 
according  to  an  original  method.  The  two  can- 
didates were  placed  a  short  distance  apart  and  the 
men  were  invited  to  line  up  with  one  or  the  other 
according  to  their  preference.  When  this  had 
been  done  it  was  seen  that  Lincoln  had  about 
three  quarters  of  the  men.  This  testimony  to 
his  popularity  was  gratifying.  After  he  became 
president  of  the  United  States  he  declared  that 
no  success  that  ever  came  to  him  gave  him  so 
much  solid  satisfaction. 

Lincoln  saw  almost  nothing  of  the  war.  His 
only  casualty  came  after  its  close.  He  had  been 
mustered  out  and  his  horse  was  stolen  so  that  he 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  47 

was  compelled  to  walk  most  of  the  way  home. 
After  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment  he 
reenlisted  as  a  private.  As  he  saw  no  fighting 
the  war  was  to  him  almost  literally  a  picnic.  But 
in  1848,  when  he  was  in  congress,  the  friends  of 
General  Cass  were  trying  to  make  political  capital 
out  of  his  alleged  military  services.  This  brought 
from  Lincoln  a  speech  which  showed  that  he  had 
not  lost  the  power  of  satire  which  he  possessed 
while  a  lad  in  Indiana. 

"  Did  you  know,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  am  a  military 
hero  ?  In  the  days  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  I 
fought,  bled,  and — came  away.  I  was  not  at 
Stillman's  defeat,  but  I  was  about  as  near  it  as 
General  Cass  was  to  Hull's  surrender  ;  and,  like 
him,  I  saw  the  place  very  soon  afterwards.  It 
is  quite  certain  I  did  not  break  my  sword,  for  I 
had  none  to  break,  but  I  bent  my  musket  pretty 
bad  on  one  occasion.  If  General  Cass  went  in 
advance  of  me  picking  whortleberries,  I  guess  I 
surpassed  him  in  charges  on  the  wild  onions.  If 
he  saw  any  live  fighting  Indians,  it  was  more  than 
I  did,  but  I  had  a  good  many  bloody  struggles 
with  the  mosquitoes ;  and  although  I  never 
fainted  from  loss  of  blood,  I  can  truly  say  I  was 
often  very  hungry.  If  ever  I  should  conclude  to 
doff  whatever  our  Democratic  friends  may  suppose 


48  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

there  is  of  black-cockade  Federalism  about  me, 
and  thereupon  they  shall  take  me  up  as  their 
candidate  for  the  Presidency,  I  protest  that  they 
shall  not  make  fun  of  me,  as  they  have  of  Gen- 
eral Cass,  by  attempting  to  write  me  into  a  mil- 
itary hero." 

In  1833  Lincoln  was  appointed  postmaster  at 
New  Salem.  To  him  the  chief  advantage  of  this 
position  was  the  fact  that  it  gave  him  the  means 
of  reading  the  papers.  The  principal  one  of  these 
was  the  Louisville  Journal,  an  exceedingly  able 
paper,  for  it  was  in  charge  of  George  D.  Prentice, 
one  of  the  ablest  editors  this  country  has  ever 
produced.  The  duties  of  the  post-office  were  few 
because  the  mail  was  light.  The  occasional  letters 
which  came  were  usually  carried  around  by  the 
postmaster  in  his  hat.  When  one  asked  for  his 
mail,  he  would  gravely  remove  his  hat  and  search 
through  the  package  of  letters. 

This  office  was  discontinued  in  a  short  time, 
but  no  agent  of  the  government  came  to  close  up 
the  accounts.  Years  afterwards,  when  Lincoln 
was  in  Springfield,  the  officer  suddenly  appeared 
and  demanded  the  balance  due  to  the  United 
States,  the  amount  being  seventeen  dollars  and  a 
few  cents.  A  friend  who  was  by,  knowing  that 
Lincoln  was  short  of  funds,  in  order  to  save  him 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  49 

from  embarrassment,  offered  to  lend  him  the  need- 
ful sum.  "  Hold  on  a  minute  and  let's  see  how 
we  come  out,"  said  he.  He  went  to  his  room  and 
returned  with  an  old  rag  containing  money.  This 
he  counted  out,  being  the  exact  sum  to  a  cent. 
It  was  all  in  small  denominations  of  silver  and 
copper,  just  as  it  had  been  received.  In  all  his 
emergencies  of  need  he  had  never  touched  this 
small  fund  which  he  held  in  trust.  To  him  it  was 
sacred.     He  was  still  "  honest  Abe." 

In  the  early  thirties,  when  the  state  of  Illinois 
was  being  settled  with  great  rapidity,  the  demand 
for  surveyors  was  greater  than  the  supply.  John 
Calhoun,  surveyor  for  the  government,  was  in 
urgent  need  of  a  deputy,  and  Lincoln  was  named 
as  a  man  likely  to  be  able  to  fit  himself  for  the 
duties  on  short  notice.  He  was  appointed.  He 
borrowed  the  necessary  book  and  went  to  work  in 
dead  earnest  to  learn  the  science.  Day  and  night 
he  studied  until  his  friends,  noticing  the  wearing 
effect  on  his  health,  became  alarmed.  But  by  the 
end  of  six  weeks,  an  almost  incredibly  brief  period 
of  time,  he  was  ready  for  work. 

It  is  certain  that  his  outfit  was  of  the  simplest 
description,  and  there  is  a  tradition  that  at  first, 
instead  of  a  surveyor's  chain  he  used  a  long, 
straight,  wild-grape  vine.      Those  who  under- 


50  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

stand  the  conditions  and  requirements  of  survey- 
ing in  early  days  say  that  this  is  not  improbable. 
A  more  important  fact  is  that  Lincoln's  surveys 
have  never  been  called  in  question,  which  is  some- 
thing that  can  be  said  of  few  frontier  surveyors. 
Though  he  learned  the  science  in  so  short  a  time, 
yet  here,  as  always,  he  was  thorough. 

It  was  said  in  the  earlier  part  of  this  chapter 
that  to  the  holders  of  Lincoln's  notes  who  con- 
sented to  await  his  ability  to  pay,  there  was  one 
exception.  One  man,  when  his  note  fell  due, 
seized  horse  and  instruments,  and  put  a  temporary 
stop  to  his  surveying.  But  a  neighbor  bought 
these  in  and  returned  them  to  Lincoln.  He  never 
forgot  the  kindness  of  this  man,  James  Short  by 
name,  and  thirty  years  later  appointed  him  Indian 
agent. 

At  this  point  may  be  mentioned  an  occurrence 
which  took  place  a  year  or  two  later.  It  was  his 
first  romance  of  love,  his  engagement  to  a  beau- 
tiful girl,  Ann  Rutledge,  and  his  bereavement. 
Her  untimely  death  nearly  unsettled  his  mind. 
He  was  afflicted  with  melancholy  to  such  a  degree 
that  his  friends  dared  not  leave  him  alone.  For 
years  afterwards  the  thought  of  her  would  shake 
his  whole  frame  with  emotion,  and  he  would  sit 
with  his  face  buried  in  his  hands  while  the  tears 


DESULTORY  EMPLOYMENTS.  51 

trickled  through.  A  friend  once  begged  him  to 
try  to  forget  his  sorrow.  "I  cannot,"  he  said  ; 
"  the  thought  of  the  rain  and  snow  on  her  grave 
fills  me  with  indescribable  grief." 

Somehow,  we  know  not  how,  the  poem  ' '  Oh, 
why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ? "  was 
in  his  mind  connected  with  Ann  Rutledge.  Pos- 
sibly it  may  have  been  a  favorite  with  her.  There 
was  certainly  some  association,  and  through  his 
whole  life  he  was  fond  of  it  and  often  repeated  it. 
Nor  did  he  forget  her.  It  was  late  in  life  that 
he  said  :  "I  really  and  truly  loved  the  girl  and 
think  often  of  her  now."  Then,  after  a  pause, 
"  And  I  have  loved  the  name  of  Rutledge  to  this 
day." 

This  bereavement  took  much  from  Lincoln. 
Did  it  give  him  nothing  ?  Patience,  earnestness, 
tenderness,  sympathy — these  are  sometimes  the 
gifts  which  are  sent  by  the  messenger  Sorrow. 
We  are  justified  in  believing  that  this  sad  event 
was  one  of  the  means  of  ripening  the  character 
of  this  great  man,  and  that  to  it  was  due  a 
measure  of  his  usefulness  in  his  mature  years. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

ENTERING   POLITICS. 

Lincoln's  duties  at  New  Salem,  as  clerk,  store- 
keeper, and  postmaster,  had  resulted  in  an  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  people  of  that  general 
locality.  His  duties  as  surveyor  took  him  into 
the  outlying  districts.  His  social  instincts  won 
for  him  friends  wherever  he  was  known,  while 
his  sterling  character  gave  him  an  influence  un- 
usual, both  in  kind  and  in  measure,  for  a  young 
man  of  his  years.  He  had  always  possessed  an  in- 
terest in  public,  even  national,  questions,  and  his 
fondness  for  debate  and  speech-making  increased 
this  interest.  Moreover  he  had  lived  month  by 
month  going  from  one  job  to  another,  and  had 
not  yet  found  his  permanent  calling. 

When  this  combination  of  facts  is  recalled,  it 
is  a  foregone  conclusion  that  he  would  sooner  or 
later  enter  politics.  This  he  did  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  in  1832. 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  day  he  an- 
nounced in  the  spring  his  candidacy.     After  this 

was  done  the  Black  Hawk  war  called  him  off  the 
52 


ENTERING  POLITICS.  53 

ground  and  he  did  not  get  back  until  about  ten 
days  before  the  election,  so  that  he  had  almost  no 
time  to  attend  to  the  canvass.  One  incident  of 
this  campaign  is  preserved  which  is  interesting, 
partly  because  it  concerns  the  first  known  speech 
Lincoln  ever  made  in  his  own  behalf,  and  chiefly 
because  it  was  an  exhibition  of  his  character. 

He  was  speaking  at  a  place  called  Cappsville 
when  two  men  in  the  audience  got  into  a  scuffle. 

Lincoln  proceeded  in  his  speech  until  it  became 
evident  that  his  friend  was  getting  the  worst  of  the 
scuffle,  when  he  descended  from  the  platform, 
seized  the  antagonist  and  threw  him  ten  or  twelve 
feet  away  on  the  ground,  and  then  remounted  the 
platform  and  took  up  his  speech  where  he  had 
left  off  without  a  break  in  the  logic. 

The  methods  of  electioneering  are  given  by  Miss 
Tarbell  in  the  following  words  : 

"  Wherever  he  saw  a  crowd  of  men  he  joined 
them,  and  he  never  failed  to  adapt  himself  to  their 
point  of  view  in  asking  for  votes.  If  the  degree 
of  physical  strength  was  the  test  for  a  candidate, 
he  was  ready  to  lift  a  weight,  or  wrestle  with 
the  countryside  champion  ;  if  the  amount  of  grain 
a  man  could  cut  would  recommend  him,  he  seized 
the  cradle  and  showed  the  swath  he  could  cut  '* 
(I.  109). 


54  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  ten  days  devoted  to  the  canvass  were  not 
enough,  and  he  was  defeated.  The  vote  against 
him  was  chiefly  in  the  outlying  region  where  he 
was  little  known.  It  must  have  been  gratifying 
to  him  that  in  his  own  precinct,  where  he  was  so 
well  known,  he  received  the  almost  unanimous 
vote  of  all  parties.  Biographers  differ  as  to  the 
precise  number  of  votes  in  the  New  Salem  pre- 
cinct, but  by  Nicolay  and  Hay  it  is  given  as  277 
for,  and  three  against.  Of  this  election  Lincoln 
himself  (speaking  in  the  third  person)  said  : 
"This  was  the  only  time  Abraham  was  ever  de- 
feated on  the  direct  vote  of  the  people." 

His  next  political  experience  was  a  candidacy  for 
the  legislature  in  1834.  At  this  time,  as  before, 
he  announced  his  own  candidacy.  But  not  as  be- 
fore, he  at  this  time  made  a  diligent  canvass  of 
the  district.  When  the  election  came  off  he  was 
not  only  successful  but  he  ran  ahead  of  his  ticket. 
He  usually  did  run  ahead  of  his  ticket  ex- 
cepting when  running  for  the  presidency,  and 
then  it  was  from  the  nature  of  the  case  impos- 
sible. Though  Lincoln  probably  did  not  realize 
it,  this,  his  first  election,  put  an  end  forever  to 
his  drifting,  desultory,  frontier  life.  Up  to  this 
point  he  was  always  looking  for  a  job.  From  this 
time  on  he  was  not  passing  from  one  thing  to  an- 


ENTERING  POLITICS.  55 

other.  In  this  country  politics  and  law  are  closely 
allied.  This  two-fold  pursuit,  politics,  for  the 
sake  of  law,  and  law  for  the  sake  of  politics,  con- 
stituted Lincoln's  vocation  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

The  capital  of  Illinois  was  Vandalia,  a  village 
said  to  be  named  after  the  Vandals  by  innocent 
citizens  who  were  pleased  with  the  euphony  of 
the  word  but  did  not  know  who  the  Vandals 
were.  Outwardly  the  village  was  crude  and  for- 
bidding, and  many  of  the  Solons  were  attired  in 
coon-skin  caps  and  other  startling  apparel.  The 
fashionable  clothing,  the  one  which  came  to  be 
generally  adopted  as  men  grew  to  be  ''genteel," 
was  blue  jeans.  Even  "store  clothes,"  as  they 
came  to  be  called,  were  as  yet  comparatively  un- 
known. 

But  one  must  not  be  misled  by  appearances  in  a 
frontier  town.  The  frontier  life  has  a  marvelous 
influence  in  developing  brains.  It  is  as  hard  for 
some  people  in  the  centers  of  culture  to  believe 
in  the  possible  intelligence  of  the  frontier,  as  it 
was  in  1Y76  for  the  cultured  Englishmen  to  be- 
lieve in  the  intelligence  of  the  colonial  patriots. 
In  that  collection  of  men  at  Vandalia  were  more 
than  a  few  who  afterwards  came  to  have  national 
influence  and  reputation. 

Apart  from  Lincoln  himself,  the  most  prom- 


56  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

inent  member  of  the  legislature  was  his  lifelong 
antagonist,  Stephen  A.  Douglas.  Whatever  may 
be  said  of  this  man's  political  principles,  there  can 
be  no  question  as  to  the  shrewdness  of  his  polit- 
ical methods.  It  is  the  opinion  of  the  present 
writer  that  in  the  entire  history  of  our  political 
system  no  man  has  ever  surpassed  him  in  astute- 
ness. Even  to-day  all  parties  are  using  the 
methods  which  he  either  devised  or  introduced. 
The  trouble  with  him  was  that  he  was  on  the 
wrong  side.  He  did  not  count  sufficiently  on  the 
conscience  of  the  nation. 

Lincoln  was  re-elected  to  the  legislature  as  often 
as  he  was  willing  to  be  a  candidate,  and  served 
continuously  for  eight  years.  One  session  is 
much  like  another,  and  in  this  eight  years  of 
legislative  experience  only  two  prominent  facts 
will  be  narrated.  One  was  the  removal  of  the 
capital  to  Springfield.  To  Lincoln  was  entrusted 
the  difficult  task^ — difficult,  because  there  were 
almost  as  many  applications  for  the  honor  of  be- 
ing the  capital  city  as  there  were  towns  and  vil- 
lages in  the  central  part  of  the  state.  He  was 
entirely  successful,  and  thenceforward  he  was  in- 
separably connected  with  Springfield.  It  was  his 
home  as  long  as  he  lived,  and  there  his  remains 
were  buried. 


ENTERING  POLITICS.  57 

The  prophetic  event  of  his  legislative  work 
was  what  is  known  as  the  Lincoln-Stone  protest. 
This  looks  to-day  so  harmless  that  it  is  not  easy 
to  understand  the  situation  in  1837.  The  pro- 
slavery  feeling  was  running  high,  an  abolitionist 
was  looked  on  as  a  monster  and  a  menace  to 
national  law  and  order.  It  was  in  that  year  that 
the  Keverend  Elijah  P.  Lovejoy  was  murdered — 
martyred — at  Alton,  111.  The  legislature  had 
passed  pro-slavery  resolutions.  There  were 
many  in  the  legislature  who  did  not  approve  of 
these,  but  in  the  condition  of  public  feeling,  it 
was  looked  on  as  political  suicide  to  express 
opposition  openly.  There  was  no  politic  reason 
why  Lincoln  should  protest.  His  protest  could 
do  no  practical  good.  To  him  it  was  solely  a 
matter  of  conscience.  Slavery  was  wrong,  the 
resolutions  were  wrong,  and  to  him  it  became 
necessary  to  enter  the  protest.  He  succeeded  in 
getting  but  one  man  to  join  him,  and  he  did 
so  because  he  was  about  to  withdraw  from 
politics  and  therefore  had  nothing  to  lose. 
Here  is  the  document  as  it  was  spread  on  the 
journal  : 

"  Eesolutions  upon  the  subject  of  domestic 
slavery  having  passed  both  branches  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  its  present  session,  the  under- 


68  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

signed  hereby  protest  against  the  passage  of  the 
same. 

''  They  believe  that  the  institution  of  slavery 
is  founded  on  both  injustice  and  bad  policy,  but 
that  the  promulgation  of  abolition  doctrines  tends 
rather  to  increase  than  abate  its  evils. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  no  power  under  the  Constitution  to  in- 
terfere with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  dif- 
ferent States. 

"  They  believe  that  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  has  the  power,  under  the  Constitution,  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  but 
that  the  power  ought  not  to  be  exercised,  unless 
at  the  request  of  the  people  of  the  District. 

"The  difference  between  these  opinions  and 
those  contained  in  the  above  resolutions  is  their 
reason  for  entering  this  protest. 

(Signed)        "  Dan  Stone, 
"  A.  Lincoln, 
"  Representatives  from  the  county  of  Sangamon." 

In  1836  Lincoln  made  an  electioneering  speech 
which  was  fortunately  heard  by  Joshua  Speed, 
and  he  has  given  an  account  of  it.  Be  it  remem- 
bered that  at  that  time  lightning  rods  were  rare 
and  attracted  an  unreasonable  amount  of  atten- 


ENTERING  POLITICS.  59 

tion.  One  Forquer,  who  was  Lincoln's  opponent, 
had  recently  rodded  his  house — and  every  one 
knew  it.  This  man's  speech  consisted  partly  in 
ridiculing  his  opponent,  his  bigness,  his  awkward- 
ness, his  dress,  his  youth.  Lincoln  heard  him 
through  without  interruption  and  then  took  the 
stand  and  said  : 

"  The  gentleman  commenced  his  speech  by  say- 
ing that  this  young  man  would  have  to  be  tiaken 
down,  and  he  was  sorry  the  task  devolved  upon 
him.  I  am  not  so  young  in  years  as  I  am  in  the 
tricks  and  trades  of  a  politician  ;  but  live  long  or 
die  young,  I  would  rather  die  now  than,  like  the 
gentleman,  change  my  politics  and  simultaneous 
with  the  change  receive  an  office  worth  three 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  then  have  to  erect  a 
lightning-rod  over  my  house  to  protect  a  guilty 
conscience  from  an  offended  God." 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  that  speech  clung  to 
its  victim  like  a  burr.  Wherever  he  went,  some 
one  would  be  found  to  tell  about  the  guilty  con- 
science and  the  lightning-rod.  The  house  and  its 
lightning-rod  were  long  a  center  of  interest  in 
Springfield.  Visitors  to  the  city  were  taken  to 
see  the  house  and  its  lightning-rod,  while  the 
story  was  told  with  great  relish. 

Having  served  eight  terms  in  the  legislature, 


60  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  in  1842  aspired  to  congress.  He  was,  how- 
ever, defeated  at  the  primary.  His  neighbors 
added  insult  to  injury  by  making  him  one  of  the 
delegates  to  the  convention  and  instructing  him 
to  vote  for  his  successful  rival,  Baker.  This  did 
not  interrupt  the  friendship  which  united  the  two 
for  many  years,  lasting,  indeed,  until  the  death 
of  Colonel  Baker  on  the  field  of  battle. 

In  1846  he  renewed  his  candidacy,  and  this  time 
with  flattering  success.  His  opponent  was  a 
traveling  preacher,  Peter  Cartwright,  who  was 
widely  known  in  the  state  and  had  not  a  little 
persuasive  power.  In  this  contest  Cartwright's 
*'  arguments  "  were  two  :  the  first,  that  Lin- 
coln was  an  atheist,  and  the  second  that  he 
was  an  aristocrat.  These  "arguments"  were 
not  convincing,  and  Lincoln  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority,  running  far  ahead  of  his 
ticket.  This  was,  at  the  time,  the  height  of  his 
ambition,  yet  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Speed:  "Being 
elected  to  congress,  though  I  am  grateful  to  our 
friends  for  having  done  it,  has  not  pleased  me  as 
much  as  I  expected." 

His  one  term  in  congress  was  uneventful. 
Twice  his  humor  bubbled  over.  Once  was  when 
he  satirized  the  claims  that  Cass  was  a  military 
hero,  in  the  speech  already  mentioned.     The  other 


ENTERING  POLITICS.  61 

time  was  his  introducing  the  resolutions  known 
as  the  "spot  resolutions."  The  president  had 
sent  to  congress  an  inflammatory,  buncombe  mes- 
sage, in  which  he  insisted  that  the  war  had  been 
begun  by  Mexico,  * '  by  invading  our  territory  and 
shedding  the  blood  of  our  citizens  on  our  own 
soil."  The  resolutions  requested  from  the  pres- 
ident the  information  : 

"  First.  Whether  the  spot  on  which  the  blood 
of  our  citizens  was  shed,  as  in  his  messages  de- 
clared, was  or  was  not  within  the  territory  of 
Spain,  at  least  after  the  treaty  of  1819,  until  the 
Mexican  revolution. 

' '  Second.  Whether  that  spot  is  or  is  not  within 
the  territory  which  was  wrested  from  Spain  by 
the  revolutionary  government  of  Mexico. 

''  Third.  Whether  the  spot  is  or  is  not,"  etc., 
etc.  It  is  the  recurrence  of  the  word  sj^ot  which 
gave  the  name  to  the  resolutions. 

Lincoln  had  now  served  eight  years  in  the 
legislature  and  one  term  in  congress.  He  had  a 
good  understanding  of  politics.  He  was  never  a 
time-server,  and  he  had  done  nothing  unwise. 
He  knew  how  to  win  votes  and  he  knew  what  to 
do  with  himself  when  the  votes  were  won.  He 
held  the  confidence  of  his  constituency.  His  was 
a  constantly  growing  popularity.     He  could  do 


$2  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

everything  but  one, — he  could  not  dishonor  his 
conscience.  His  beUef  that  "  slavery  was  founded 
on  injustice  "  was  the  only  reason  for  his  protest. 
He  never  hesitated  to  protest  against  injustice. 
The  Golden  Eule  had  a  place  in  practical  politics. 
The  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  not  an  iridescent 
dream. 


CHAPTER  YIIL 

ENTERING  THE  LAW. 

In  treating  of  this  topic,  it  will  be  necessary  to 
recall  certain  things  already  mentioned.  One 
characteristic  which  distinguished  Lincoln  all 
through  his  life  was  thoroughness.  When  he 
was  President  a  man  called  on  him  for  a  certain 
favor,  and,  when  asked  to  state  his  case,  made  a 
great  mess  of  it,  for  he  had  not  sufficiently 
prepared  himself.  Then  the  President  gave  him 
some  free  advice.  '^  What  you  need  is  to  be 
thorough,"  and  he  brought  his  hand  down  on  the 
table  with  the  crash  of  a  maul, — "  to  be  thorough." 
It  was  his  own  method.  After  a  successful 
practise  of  twenty  years  he  advised  a  young  law 
student :  "  Work,  work,  work  is  the  main  thing." 
He  spoke  out  of  his  own  experience. 

There  is  one   remarkable   passage  in   his  life 

which  is  worth  repeating  here,  since  it  gives  an 

insight  into  the  thoroughness  of  this  man.     The 

following  is  quoted  from  the  Eev,  J.  P.  Gulliver, 

then  pastor  of    the    Congregational   church   in 

Norwich,  Conn.     It  was  a  part  of  a  conversa- 

63 


64  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tion  which  took  place  shortly  after  the  Cooper 
Institute  speech  in  1860,  and  was  printed  in  The 
Independent  for  September  1,  1864. 

'•'  Oh,  yes  !  '  I  read  law,'  as  the  phrase  is  ;  that 
is,  I  became  a  lawyer's  clerk  in  Springfield,  and 
copied  tedious  documents,  and  picked  up  what  I 
could  of  law  in  the  intervals  of  other  work.  But 
your  question  reminds  me  of  a  bit  of  education  I 
had,  which  I  am  bound  in  honesty  to  mention. 

"  In  the  course  of  my  law  reading  I  constantly 
came  upon  the  word  demonstrate.  I  thought,  at 
first,  that  I  understood  its  meaning,  but  soon 
became  satisfied  that  I  did  not.  I  said  to  myself, 
What  do  I  do  when  I  demonstrate  more  than  when 
I  reason  ox  prove  f  How  does  demonstration  differ 
from  any  other  proof  ?  I  consulted  Webster's 
Dictionary.  They  told  of  '  certain  proof,'  'proof 
beyond  the  possibility  of  doubt '  ;  but  I  could 
form  no  idea  of  what  sort  of  proof  that  was.  I 
thought  a  great  many  things  were  proved  beyond 
the  possibility  of  doubt,  without  recourse  to  any 
such  extraordinary  process  of  reasoning  as  I  un- 
derstood demonstration  to  be.  I  consulted  all  the 
dictionaries  and  books  of  reference  I  could  fiad, 
but  with  no  better  results.  You  might  as  well 
have  defined  blue  to  a  blind  man.  At  last  I  said, — 
Lincoln,  you  never  can  make  a  lawyer  if  you  do 


ENTERING  THE  LAW.  65 

not  understand  what  demonstrate  means  ;  and  I 
left  my  situation  in  Springfield,  went  home  to  my 
father's  house,  and  stayed  there  till  I  could  give 
any  proposition  in  the  six  books  of  Euclid  at 
sight.  I  then  found  out  what  demonstrate  means, 
and  went  back  to  my  law  studies." 

Was  there  ever  a  more  thorough  student  ? 

He,  like  every  one  else,  had  his  library  within 
the  library.  Though  he  read  everything  he  could 
lay  his  hands  on,  yet  there  are  five  books  to  be 
mentioned  specifically,  because  from  childhood 
they  furnished  his  intellectual  nutriment.  These 
were  the  Bible,  ^sop,  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Burns, 
and  Shakespeare,  These  were  his  mental  food. 
They  entered  into  the  very  substance  of  his 
thought  and  imagination.  "Fear  the  man  of 
one  book."  Lincoln  had  five  books,  and  so 
thoroughly  were  they  his  that  he  was  truly 
formidable.  These  did  not  exclude  other  reading 
and  study  ;  they  made  it  a  thousand  times  more 
fruitful.  And  yet  people  ask,  where  did  Lincoln 
get  the  majesty,  the  classic  simplicity  and  elegance 
of  his  Gettysburg  address  ?    The  answer  is  here. 

While  Lincoln  was  postmaster,  he  was  a  dili- 
gent reader  of  the  newspapers,  of  which  the  chief 
was  the  Louisville  Journal.     It  was  edited  by 


66  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

George  D.  Prentice,  who  was,  and  is,  second  to  no 
other  editor  in  the  entire  history  of  American 
journalism.  The  ability  of  this  man  to  express 
his  thoughts  with  such  power  was  a  mystery  to 
this  reader.  The  editor's  mastery  of  language 
aroused  in  Lincoln  a  burning  desire  to  obtain 
command  of  the  English  tongue.  He  applied  for 
counsel  to  a  friend,  a  schoolmaster  by  the  name 
of  Mentor  Graham.  Graham  recommended  him 
to  study  English  grammar,  and  told  him  that  a 
copy  of  one  was  owned  by  a  man  who  lived  six 
miles  away.  Lincoln  walked  to  the  house,  bor- 
rowed the  book — "collared"  it,  as  he  expressed 
it — and  at  the  end  of  six  days  had  mastered  it 
with  his  own  thoroughness. 

The  first  law  book  he  read  was  "  The  Statutes  of 
Indiana."  This  was  when  he  was  a  lad  living  in 
that  state,  and  he  read  the  book,  not  for  any 
special  desire  to  know  the  subject  but,  because  he 
was  in  the  habit  of  reading  all  that  came  into  his 
hands. 

His  next  text  book  was  Blackstone's  "  Commen- 
taries." The  accidental  way  in  which  he  gained 
possession  of,  and  read,  this  book  is  of  sufficient 
interest  to  narrate  in  his  own  words.  It  was 
shortly  after  he  got  into  the  grocery  business  : 

"  One  day  a  man  who  was   migrating  to  the 


ENTERING  THE  LAW.  67 

West  drove  up  in  front  of  my  store  with  a  wagon 
which  contained  his  family  and  household  plunder. 
He  asked  me  if  I  would  buy  an  old  barrel  for 
which  he  had  no  room  in  his  wagon,  and  which 
he  said  contained  nothing  of  special  value.  I  did 
not  want  it,  but  to  oblige  him  I  bought  it,  and 
paid  him,  I  think,  half  a  dollar  for  it.  Without 
further  examination  I  put  it  away  in  the  store 
and  forgot  all  about  it.  Some  time  after,  in 
overhauling  things,  I  came  upon  the  barrel,  and 
emptying  it  upon  the  floor  to  see  what  it  con- 
tained, I  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  rubbish  a 
complete  edition  of  Blackstone's  "  Commentaries." 
I  began  to  read  those  famous  works,  and  I  had 
plenty  of  time  ;  for  during  the  long  summer  days, 
when  the  farmers  were  busy  with  their  crops,  my 
customers  were  few  and  far  between.  The  more 
I  read,  the  more  intensely  interested  I  became. 
Never  in  my  whole  life  was  my  mind  so  thoroughly 
absorbed.     I  read  until  I  devoured  them." 

All  this  may  have  been  fatal  to  the  prosperity 
of  the  leading  store  in  that  hamlet  of  fifteen  log 
cabins,  but  it  led  to  something  better  than  the  suc- 
cess of  the  most  magnificent  store  in  New  York. 

It  was  in  1834  that  Lincoln  was  first  elected 
to  the  legislature.  During  the  canvass  he  was 
brought  into  the  company  of  Major  John  T. 


68  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Stuart,  whom  he  had  met  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war.  Stuart  advised  him  to  enter  definitely  on 
the  study  of  the  law.  He  decided  to  do  this. 
This  proved  to  be  quite  the  most  important  thing 
that  occurred  to  him  that  year. 

Stuart  further  offered  to  lend  him  the  necessary 
books.  This  offer  was  gladly  accepted,  and  having 
no  means  of  travel,  he  walked  to  and  from 
Springfield,  a  distance  of  twenty  miles,  to  get  the 
books  and  return  them.  During  this  tramp  he 
was  able  to  read  forty  pages  of  the  volume.  Thus 
he  read,  and  we  may  venture  to  say  mastered, 
Chitty,  Greenleaf,  and  Story,  in  addition  to 
Blackstone  before  mentioned.  It  was  the  best 
foundation  that  could  have  been  laid  for  a  great 
lawyer. 

During  this  reading  he  was  getting  his  bread 
and  butter  by  the  other  employments — store-keep- 
ing, postmaster,  and  surveyor.  These  may  not 
have  interfered  greatly  with  the  study  of  the  law, 
but  the  study  of  the  law  certainly  interfered  with 
the  first  of  these.  He  read  much  out  of  doors. 
He  would  lie  on  his  back  in  the  shade  of  some 
tree,  with  his  feet  resting  part  way  up  the  tree, 
then  follow  the  shadow  around  from  west  to  east, 
grinding  around  with  the  progress  of  the  sun. 
When  in  the  house  his  attitude  was  to  cock  his 


ENTERING  THE  LAW.  69 

feet  high  in  a  chair,  thus  "sitting  on  his  shoulder 
blades,"  to  use  a  common  expression.  When  in 
his  office  he  would  throw  himself  on  the  lounge 
with  his  feet  high  on  a  chair.  These  attitudes, 
bringing  his  feet  up  to,  and  sometimes  above,  the 
level  with  his  head,  have  been  characteristic  of 
American  students  time  out  of  mind.  He  never 
outgrew  the  tendency.  Even  when  President  and 
sitting  with  his  Cabinet,  his  feet  always  found 
some  lofty  perch. 

While  he  was  not  reading,  he  was  pondering 
or  memorizing.  Thus  he  took  long  walks,  talking 
to  himself  incessantly,  until  some  of  his  neighbors 
thought  he  was  going  crazy. 

He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1837.  At  that 
date  there  was  no  lawyer  nearer  to  New  Salem 
than  those  in  Springfield,  which  was  twenty  miles 
off.  Consequently  he  had  a  little  amateur  prac- 
tise from  his  neighbors.  He  was  sometimes  ap- 
pealed to  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  up  agree- 
ments and  other  papers.  He  had  no  office,  and 
if  he  chanced  to  be  out  of  doors  would  call  for 
writing-materials,  a  slab  of  wood  for  a  desk,  draw 
up  the  paper,  and  then  resume  his  study. 

This  same  year  he  became  a  partner  of  Stuart, 
in  Springfield.  The  latter  wanted  to  get  into 
politics,  and  it  was  essential  that  he  should  have 


70  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

a  trustworthy  partner.  So  the  firm  of  Stuart  and 
Lincoln  was  established  in  183Y  and  lived  for  four 
years.  In  1841  he  entered  into  partnership  with 
Logan,  and  this  also  lasted  about  four  years.  In 
the  year  1845  was  established  the  firm  of  Lincoln 
and  Herndon,  which  continued  until  the  assassina- 
tion of  the  president  in  1866, 

After  a  brief  period  Lincoln  himself  got  deeper 
into  politics,  this  period  culminating  with  the 
term  in  congress.  In  this  he  necessarily  neglected 
the  law  more  or  less.  But  late  in  1848,  or  early 
in  1849,  he  returned  to  the  law  with  renewed 
vigor  and  zeal,  giving  it  his  undivided  attention 
for  six  years.  It  was  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  that  called  him  back  into  the  arena 
of  politics.     This  will  be  narrated  later. 

His  partnership  with  Stuart  of  course  neces- 
sitated his  removal  to  Springfield.  This  event, 
small  in  itself,  gives  such  a  pathetic  picture  of 
bis  poverty,  and  his  cheerful  endurance,  that  it 
is  well  worth  narrating.  It  is  preserved  by 
Joshua  F.  Speed,  who  became,  and  through  life 
continued,  Lincoln's  fast  friend.  The  story  is 
given  in  Speed's  words  : 

"  He  had  ridden  into  town  on  a  borrowed  horse, 
with  no  earthly  property  save  a  pair  of  saddle- 
bags containing  a  few  clothes.     I  was  a  merchant 


ENTERING  THE  LAW.  Yl 

at  Springfield,  and  kept  a  large  country  store, 
embracing  dry-goods,  groceries,  hardware,  books, 
medicines,  bed-clothes,  mattresses — in  fact,  every- 
thing that  the  country  needed.  Lincoln  said  he 
wanted  to  buy  the  furniture  for  a  single  bed. 
The  mattress,  blankets,  sheets,  coverlet,  and  pil- 
low, according  to  the  figures  made  by  me,  would 
cost  seventeen  dollars.  He  said  that  perhaps  was 
cheap  enough ;  but  small  as  the  price  was,  he 
was  unable  to  pay  it.  [Note  that  at  this  time  he 
was  carrying  the  debts  of  the  merchants  of  New 
Salem.  The  Author.]  But  if  I  would  credit 
him  until  Christmas,  and  his  experiment  as  a 
lawyer  was  a  success,  he  would  pay  then  ;  saying 
in  the  saddest  tone,  'If  I  fail  in  this,  I  do  not 
know  that  I  ever  can  pay  you.'  As  I  looked  up 
at  him  I  thought  then,  and  I  think  now,  that  I 
never  saw  a  sadder  face. 

"I  said  to  him:  'You  seem  to  be  so  much 
pained  at  contracting  so  small  a  debt,  I  think  I 
can  suggest  a  plan  by  which  you  can  avoid  the 
debt,  and  at  the  same  time  attain  your  end.  I 
have  a  large  room  with  a  double  bed  up-stairs, 
which  you  are  very  welcome  to  share  with  me.' 

"  '  Where  is  your  room  ? '  said  he. 

"  '  Up-stairs,'  said  I,  pointing  to  a  pair  of  wind, 
ing-stairs,  which  led  from  the  store  to  my  room. 


72  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  He  took  his  saddle-bags  on  his  arm,  went  up- 
stairs, set  thera  on  the  floor,  and  came  down  with 
the  most  changed  expression  of  countenance. 
Beaming  with  pleasure,  he  exclaimed  : 

«  '  Well,  Speed,  I  am  moved  ! '  " 

Thus  he  became  established  in  the  profession  of 
the  law  and  a  resident  of  Springfield.  It  was  not 
a  large  city,  but  it  was  a  very  active  one,  though 
small,  and  was  the  capital  of  the  state.  Lincoln 
was  there  favorably  known,  because  he  had  been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  getting  the  capital  moved 
to  that  place  from  Vandalia.  His  first  law  part- 
ner was  very  helpful  to  him,  and  he  had  abund- 
ant reason  all  his  life  to  be  thankful  also  for  the 
friendship  of  Joshua  F.  Speed. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ON  THE   CIRCUIT. 

The  requirements  of  the  lawyer  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  at  that  date,  were  different  from  the 
requirements  in  any  part  of  the  world  at  the 
present  date.  The-  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Choate,  in  a 
lecture  at  Edinburgh,  November  13,  1900,  said  : 
"  My  professional  brethren  will  ask  me  how 
could  this  rough  backwoodsman  .  .  .  become  a 
learned  and  accomplished  lawyer?  Well,  he 
never  did.  He  never  would  have  earned  his  salt 
as  a  writer  for  the  '  Signet,'  nor  have  won  a  place 
as  advocate  in  the  Coiirt  of  Session,  where  the 
teachings  of  the  profession  has  reached  its  high- 
est perfection,  and  centuries  of  learning  and 
precedent  are  involved  in  the  equipment  of  a 
lawyer." 

The  only  means  we  have  of  knowing  what  Lin- 
coln could  do  is  knowing  what  he  did.  If  his  bi- 
ography teaches  anything,  it  teaches  that  he  never 
failed  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  any  occasion. 
The  study  of  his  life  will  reveal  this  fact  with  in- 
creasing emphasis.     Many  a  professional  brother 

73 


74  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

looked  on  Lincoln  as  "this  rough  backwoods- 
man," unable  to  "become  a  learned  and  accom- 
plished lawyer,"  to  his  own  utter  discomfiture. 
We  are  justified  in  saying  that  if  he  had  under- 
taken the  duties  of  the  Scots  writer  to  the 
"Signet,"  he  would  have  done  them  well,  as  he 
did  every  other  duty. 

When  Douglas  was  congratulated  in  advance 
upon  the  ease  with  which  he  would  vanquish  his 
opponent,  he  replied  that  he  would  rather  meet 
any  man  in  the  country  in  that  joint  debate  than 
Abraham  Lincoln.  At  another  time  he  said : 
"Lincoln  is  one  of  those  peculiar  men  who  per- 
form with  admirable  skill  whatever  they  under- 
take." 

Lincoln's  professional  duties  were  in  the  Eighth 
Judicial  Circuit,  which  then  comprised  fifteen 
counties.  Some  of  these  counties  have  since  been 
subdivided,  so  that  the  territory  of  that  district 
was  larger  than  would  be  indicated  by  the  same 
number  of  counties  to-day.  It  was  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  long  and  nearly  as  wide.  There 
were  few  railroads,  and  the  best  county  roads 
were  extremely  poor,  so  that  traveling  was 
burdensome.  The  court  and  the  lawyers  traveled 
from  one  county  seat  to  another,  sometimes 
horseback,  sometimes  in  buggies  or  wagons,  and 


ON  THE  CIRCUIT.  Y5 

sometimes  afoot.  The  duties  of  one  county  being 
concluded,  the  entire  company  would  move  on  to 
another  county.  Thus  only  a  small  part  of  his 
duties  were  transacted  at  Springfield. 

These  periodic  sessions  of  the  court  were  of 
general  interest  to  the  communities  in  which  they 
were  held.  There  were  no  theaters,  no  lyceums 
for  music  or  lectures,  and  few  other  assemblages 
of  any  sort,  excepting  the  churches  and  the  agri- 
cultural fairs.  It  thus  came  about  that  the  court 
was  the  center  of  a  greater  interest  than  would 
now  be  possible.  It  was  the  rostrum  of  the  lec- 
turer and  the  arena  of  the  debate.  Nor  were 
comedies  lacking  in  its  multifarious  proceedings. 
The  attorney  was  therefore  sure  of  a  general 
audience,  as  well  as  of  court  and  jury. 

This  peripatetic  practise  threw  the  lawyers 
much  into  one  another's  company.  There  were 
long  evenings  to  be  spent  in  the  country  taverns, 
when  sociability  was  above  par.  Lincoln's  inex- 
haustible fund  of  wit  and  humor,  and  his  match- 
less array  of  stories,  made  him  the  life  of  the 
company.  In  this  number  there  were  many 
lawyers  of  real  ability.  The  judge  was  David 
Davis,  whose  culture  and  legal  ability  will  hardly 
be  questioned  by  any  one.  Judge  Davis  was  al- 
most ludicrously  fond  of  Lincoln.     He  kept  him 


76  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

in  his  room  evenings  and  was  very  impatient  if 
Lincoln's  talk  was  interrupted. 

There  were  two  qualities  in  Lincoln's  anecdotes  : 
their  resistless  fun,  and  their  appropriateness. 
When  Lincoln  came  into  court  it  was  usually 
with  a  new  story,  and  as  he  would  tell  it  in  low 
tones  the  lawyers  would  crowd  about  him  to  the 
neglect  of  everything  else,  and  to  the  great  an- 
noyance of  the  judge.  He  once  called  out  :  "  Mr. 
Lincoln,  we  can't  hold  two  courts,  one  up  here 
and  one  down  there.  Either  yours  or  mine  must 
adjourn." 

Once  Lincoln  came  into  the  room  late,  leaned 
over  the  clerk's  desk  and  whispered  to  him  a 
little  story.  Thereupon  the  clerk  threw  back  his 
head  and  laughed  aloud.  The  judge  thundered 
out,  "  Mr.  Clerk,  you  may  fine  yourself  five  dol- 
lars for  contempt  of  court."  The  clerk  quietly 
replied,  "I  don't  care;  the  story's  worth  it." 
After  adjournment  the  judge  asked  him,  ''  What 
was  that  story  of  Lincoln's  ? "  When  it  was  re- 
peated the  judge  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed, 
and  added,  "  You  may  remit  the  fine." 

A  stranger,  hearing  the  fame  of  Lincoln's 
stories,  attended  court  and  afterward  said,  "  The 
stories  are  good,  but  I  can't  see  that  they  help 
the  case  any."     An  admiring  neighbor  replied 


ON  THE  CIRCUIT.  Y7 

with  more  zeal  and  justice  than  elegance,  "  Don't 
you  apply  that  unction  to  your  soul,"  The 
neighbor  was  right.  Lincoln  had  not  in  vain 
spent  the  days  and  nights  of  his  boyhood  and 
youth  with  ^sop.  His  stories  were  as  luminous 
of  the  point  under  consideration  as  were  the 
stories  which  explained  that ''  this  fable  teaches." 

Judge  Davis  wrote  of  him  that  "he  was  able 
to  claim  the  attention  of  court  and  jury  when 
the  cause  was  most  uninteresting  by  the  appro- 
priateness of  his  anecdotes."  Those  who  have 
tried  to  claim  Judge  Davis'  attention  when  he 
did  not  want  to  give  it,  will  realize  the  greatness 
of  praise  implied  in  this  concession. 

To  this  may  be  joined  the  remark  of  Leonard 
Swett,  that  "any  man  who  took  Lincoln  for  a 
simple-minded  man  would  wake  up  with  his 
back  in  the  ditch." 

As  Lincoln  would  never  adopt  the  methods  of 
his  partner  Herndon,  the  latter  could  not  quite 
grasp  the  essential  greatness  of  the  former,  and 
he  uses  some  patronizing  words.  We  may  again 
quote  Judge  Davis:  "In  all  the  elements  that 
constitute  a  great  lawyer  he  had  few  equals.  .  .  . 
He  seized  the  strong  points  of  a  cause  and  pre- 
sented them  with  clearness  and  great  compact- 
ness. .  .  .  Generalities  and  platitudes    had    no 


78  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

charms  for  him.  An  unfailing  vein  of  humor 
never  deserted  him."  Then  follows  the  passage 
already  quoted. 

Lincoln  never  could  bring  himself  to  charge 
large  fees.  Lamon  was  his  limited  partner  (with 
the  ofiQce  in  Danville  and  Bloomington)  for  many 
years.  He  tells  one  instance  which  will  illustrate 
this  trait.  There  was  a  case  of  importance  for 
which  the  fee  was  fixed  in  advance  at  $250,  a 
very  moderate  fee  under  the  circumstances.  It 
so  happened  that  the  case  was  not  contested  and 
the  business  required  only  a  short  time.  The 
client  cheerfully  paid  the  fee  as  agreed.  As  he 
went  away  Lincoln  asked  his  partner  how  much 
he  charged.  He  replied,  "  $250."  "  Lamon,"  he 
said,  "  that  is  all  wrong.  Give  him  back  at  least 
half  of  it."  Lamon  protested  that  it  was  according 
to  agreement  and  the  client  was  satisfied.  "  That 
may  be,  but  I  am  not  satisfied.  This  is  positively 
wrong.  Go,  call  him  back  and  return  him  half 
the  money  at  least,  or  I  will  not  receive  one  cent 
of  it  for  my  share. " 

One  may  imagine  the  amazement  of  the  client 
to  receive  back  one  half  of  the  fee.  But  the 
matter  did  not  end  here.  The  affair  had  attracted 
the  attention  of  those  near  at  hand,  including  the 
court.     Judge  Davis  was  of  enormous  physical 


ON  THE  CIRCUIT.  Y9 

size,  and  his  voice  was  like  a  fog  horn.  The 
author  writes  this  from  vivid  remembrance. 
Once  in  early  youth  he  quaked  in  his  shoes  at 
the  blast  of  that  voice.  The  conclusion  of  the 
incident  is  given  in  the  words  of  Lamon  :  "  The 
judge  never  could  whisper,  but  in  this  case  he 
probably  did  his  best.  At  all  events,  in  attempt- 
ing to  whisper  to  Mr.  Lincoln  he  trumpeted  his 
rebuke  in  about  these  words,  and  in  rasping  tones 
that  could  be  heard  all  over  the  court  room  : 
'  Lincoln,  I  have  been  watching  you  and  Lamon. 
You  are  impoverishing  this  bar  by  your  picayune 
charges  of  fees,  and  the  lawyers  have  reason  to 
complain  of  you.  You  are  now  almost  as  poor 
as  Lazarus,  and  if  you  don't  make  people  pay  you 
more  for  your  services,  you  will  die  as  poor  as 
Job's  turkey." 

The  event  justified  the  Judge's  remarks.  It 
was  not  unusual  for  Lincoln's  name,  as  attorney, 
to  be  found  on  one  side  or  the  other  of  every  case 
on  the  docket.  In  other  words,  his  practise  was 
as  large  as  that  of  any  lawyer  on  the  circuit,  and 
he  had  his  full  proportion  of  important  cases. 
But  he  never  accumulated  a  large  sum  of  money. 
Probably  no  other  successful  lawyer  in  that  re- 
gion had  a  smaller  income.  This  is  a  convincing 
commentary  on  his  charges. 


80  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  largest  fee  he  ever  received  was  from  the 
Illinois  Central  Railroad.  The  case  was  tried  at 
Bloomington  before  the  supreme  court  and  was 
won  for  the  road.  Lincoln  went  to  Chicago  and 
presented  a  bill  for  $2,000  at  the  offices  of  the 
company.  "Why,"  said  the  official,  in  real  or 
feigned  astonishment,  "this  is  as  nauch  as  a 
first-class  lawyer  would  have  charged." 

Lincoln  was  greatly  depressed  by  this  rebuff, 
and  would  have  let  the  matter  drop  then  and 
there  had  not  his  neighbors  heard  of  it.  They 
persuaded  him  to  raise  the  fee  to  $5,000,  and  six 
leading  lawyers  of  the  state  testified  that  that 
sum  was  a  moderate  charge.  Lincoln  sued  the 
road  for  the  larger  amount  and  won  his  case.  It 
is  a  matter  of  interest  that  at  that  time  the  vice- 
president  of  the  railroad  was  George  B.  McClellan. 

It  was  Lincoln's  habit  always  to  go  to  the 
heart  of  a  case.  Quibbles  did  not  interest  him. 
The  non-professional  public  who  have  attended 
jury  trials  will  not  easily  forget  the  monotonous 
"  I  object  "  of  the  attorneys,  usually  followed  by, 
" I  except  to  the  ruling  of  the  court,"  and  "The 
clerk  will  note  the  exception."  Lincoln  gener- 
ally met  the  objections  by  the  placid  remark, 
"I  reckon  that's  so."  Thus  he  gave  up  point 
after  point,  apparently  giving  away  his  case  over 


ON  THE  CIRCUIT.  81 

and  over  again,  until  his  associates  were  brought 
to  the  verge  of  nervous  prostration.  After  giving 
away  six  points  he  would  fasten  upon  the  seventh, 
which  was  the  pivotal  point  of  the  case,  and 
would  handle  that  so  as  to  win.  This  ought  to 
have  been  satisfactory,  but  neither  Herndon  nor 
his  other  associates  ever  got  used  to  it. 

Lincoln  put  his  conscience  into  his  legal  prac- 
tise to  a  greater  degree  than  is  common  with 
lawyers.  He  held  (with  Blackstone)  that  law  is 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  justice,  and  he  would 
never  make  use  of  any  technicality  for  the  purpose 
of  thwarting  justice.  When  others  maneuvered, 
he  met  them  by  a  straightforward  dealing.  He 
never  did  or  could  take  an  unfair  advantage.  On 
the  wrong  side  of  a  case,  he  was  worse  than  use- 
less to  his  client,  and  he  knew  it.  He  would 
never  take  such  a  case  if  it  could  be  avoided.  His 
partner  Herndon  tells  how  he  gave  some  free  and 
unprofessional  advice  to  one  who  offered  him  such 
a  case:  "Yes,  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt  but 
that  I  can  gain  your  case  for  you.  I  can  set  a 
whole  neighborhood  at  loggerheads  ;  I  can  dis- 
tress a  widowed  mother  and  her  six  fatherless 
children,  and  thereby  get  for  you  six  hundred 
dollars,  which  rightfully  belongs,  it  appears  to 
me,  as  much  to  them  as  it  does  to  you.     I  shall 


82  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

not  take  your  case,  but  will  give  a  little  advice 
for  nothing.  You  seem  a  sprightly,  energetic 
man.  I  would  advise  you  to  try  your  hand  at 
making  six  hundred  dollars  in  some  other  way." 

Sometimes,  after  having  entered  on  a  case,  he 
discovered  that  his  clients  had  imposed  on  him. 
In  liis  indignation  he  has  even  left  the  court 
room.  Once  when  the  Judge  sent  for  him  he 
refused  to  return.  "Tell  the  judge  my  hands 
are  dirty  ;  I  came  over  to  wash  them." 

The  most  important  law-suit  in  which  Lincoln 
was  ever  engaged  was  the  McCormick  case. 
McOormick  instituted  a  suit  against  one  Manny 
for  alleged  infringement  of  patents.  McCormick 
virtually  claimed  the  monopoly  of  the  manufac- 
ture of  harvesting  machines.  The  suit  involved 
a  large  sum  of  money  besides  incidental  consider- 
ations. The  leading  attorney  for  the  plaintiff  was 
the  Hon.  Reverdy  Johnson,  one  of  the  foremost, 
if  not  the  foremost,  at  the  bar  in  the  entire 
country.  It  was  the  opportunity  of  crossing 
swords  with  Johnson  that,  more  than  anything 
else,  stirred  Lincoln's  interest.  With  him,  for 
the  defense,  was  associated  Edwin  M.  Stanton. 

The  case  was  to  be  tried  at  Cincinnati,  and  all 
parties  were  on  hand.  Lincoln  gave  an  extraor- 
dinary amount  of  care  in  the  preparation  of  the 


ON  THE  CIRCUIT.  83 

case.  But  some  little  things  occurred.  Through 
an  open  doorway  he  heard  Stanton  make  some 
scornful  remarks  of  him,— ridiculing  his  awk- 
ward appearance  and  his  dress,  particularly,  for 
Lincoln  wore  a  linen  duster,  soiled  and  disfigured 
by  perspiration.  When  the  time  came  for 
apportioning  the  speeches,  Lincoln,  although  he 
was  thoroughly  prepared  and  by  the  customs  of 
the  bar  it  was  his  right  to  make  the  argument, 
courteously  offered  the  opportunity  to  Stanton, 
who  promptly  accepted.  It  was  a  great  disap- 
pointment to  Lincoln  to  miss  thus  the  opportu- 
nity of  arguing  with  Reverdy  Johnson.  Neither 
did  Stanton  know  what  he  missed.  Nor  did 
Johnson  know  what  a  narrow  escape  he  had. 

This  chapter  will  not  be  complete  without 
making  mention  of  Lincoln's  professional  kind- 
ness to  the  poor  and  unfortunate.  Those  who 
could  find  no  other  friends  were  sure  to  find  a 
friend  in  Lincoln.  He  would  freely  give  his 
services  to  the  needy.  At  that  time  the  negro 
found  it  hard  to  get  help,  friendship,  justice. 
Though  Illinois  was  a  free  state,  public  opinion 
was  such  that  any  one  who  undertook  the  cause 
of  the  negro  was  sure  to  alienate  friends. 
Lincoln  was  one  of  the  few  who  never  hesitated 
at  the  sacrifice. 


84  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

A  young  man,  a  free  negro  living  in  the  neigh- 
borhood, had  been  employed  as  cabin  boy  on  a 
Mississippi    river    steamboat.     Arriving  at  New 
Orleans,  he  went  ashore  without  a  suspicion  of 
what  the  law  was  in   a   slave  state.     He  was 
arrested  for  being  on  the  street  after  dark  without 
a  pass,  thrown  into  jail,  and  fined.     Having  no 
money  to  pay  the  fine,  he  was  liable  to  be  sold  into 
slavery,  when  his  mother,  in  her  distress,  came 
to  Lincoln  for  help.     Lincoln  sent  to  the  governor 
to  see   if  there  was  no  way  by  which  this  free 
negro  could  be  brought  home.     The   governor 
was  sorry  that  there  was  not.     In  a  towering 
wrath  Lincoln  exclaimed  :  "  I'll  have  that  negro 
back  soon,  or  I'll  have  a  twenty  years'  excitement 
in  Illinois  until  the  governor  does  have  a  legal 
and  constitutional  right  to  do  something  in  the 
premises  1  " 

He  had  both.  He  and  his  partner  sent  to  New 
Orleans  the  necessary  money  by  which  the  boy 
was  released  and  restored  to  his  mother.  The 
twenty  years'  excitement  came  later. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  MARRIAGE. 

Springfield  was  largely  settled  by  people  born 
and  educated  in  older  and  more  cultured  com- 
munities. From  the  first  it  developed  a  social 
life  of  its  own.  In  the  years  on  both  sides  of 
1840,  it  maintained  as  large  an  amount  of  such 
social  activity  as  was  possible  in  a  new  frontier 
city.  In  this  life  Lincoln  was  an  important  factor. 
The  public  interest  in  the  man  made  this  neces- 
sary, even  apart  from  considerations  of  his  own 
personal  preferences. 

We  have  seen  that  he  was  extremely  sociable 

in  his  tastes.     He  was  fond  of  being  among  men. 

Wherever    men    were    gathered,    there  Lincoln 

went,  and  wherever  Lincoln  was,  men  gathered 

about  him.     In  the  intervals  of  work,  at  nooning 

or  in  the  evening,  he  was  always  the  center  of  an 

interested  group,   and  his  unparalleled    flow  of 

humor,  wit,  and  good  nature  was  the  life  of  the 

assemblage.     This  had  always    been    so    from 

childhood.     It  had  become  a  second  nature  with 

85 


86  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

him  to  entertain  the  crowd,  while  the  crowd 
came  to  look  upon  him  as  their  predestined  enter- 
tainer. 

But  Lincoln  had  been  brought  up  in  the 
open  air,  on  the  very  frontier,  "  far  from  the 
madding  crowd."  His  social  experience  and 
his  tastes  were  with  men,  not  ladies.  He  was 
not  used  to  the  luxuries  of  civilization, — elegant 
carpets,  fine  china,  fashionable  dress.  Though 
he  had  great  dignity  and  nobility  of  soul,  he  did 
not  have  that  polish  of  manners  which  counts  for 
so  much  with  ladies.  His  ungainly  physique 
accented  this  lack.  He  was  not,  he  never  could 
be,  what  is  known  as  a  ladies'  man.  While  his 
friendly  nature  responded  to  all  sociability,  he 
was  not  fond  of  ladies'  society.  He  was  naturally 
in  great  demand,  and  he  attended  all  the  social 
gatherings.  But  when  there,  he  drifted  away 
from  the  company  of  the  ladies  into  that  of  the 
men.  Nor  were  the  men  loath  to  gather  about 
him. 

The  ladies  liked  him,  but  one  of  them  doubtless 
spoke  the  truth,  when  she  declared  that  their  griev- 
ance against  him  was  that  he  monopolized  the 
attention  of  the  men.  This  was  natural  to  him, 
it  had  been  confirmed  by  years  of  habit,  and  by 
the  time  he  was  thirty  years  old  it  was  practically 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  MARRIAGE.  87 

impossible  for  him  to  adopt  the  ways  acceptable 
to  ladies. 

Into  this  society  in  Springfield  came  a  pretty, 
bright,  educated,  cultured  young  lady— Miss  Mary 
Todd.  She  was  of  an  aristocratic  family  from 
Kentucky.  It  is  said  that  she  could  trace  the 
family  genealogy  back  many  centuries.  She 
may  have  been  haughty — she  was  said  to  be  so — 
and  she  may  have  been  exacting  in  those  little 
matters  which  make  up  so  large  a  measure  of 
what  is  known  as  polish  of  manners.  These 
would  be  precisely  the  demands  which  Lincoln 
was  unable  to  meet. 

It  was  a  foregone  conclusion  that  the  two  would 
be  thrown  much  into  each  other's  society,  and 
that  the  neighbors  would  connect  them  in  thought. 
For  Lincoln  was  the  most  popular  man  and  Miss 
Todd  was  the  most  popular  young  lady  in  Spring- 
field. It  was  simply  another  case  of  the  attrac- 
tion of  opposites,  for  in  everything  except  their 
popularity  they  were  as  unlike  as  they  could  be. 

It  is  proverbial  that  the  course  of  true  love 
never  did  run  smooth.  If  there  were  ripples  and 
eddies  and  counter-currents  in  the  course  of  this 
love,  it  was  in  nowise  exceptional.  It  is  only  the 
prominence  of  the  parties  that  has  brought  this 
into  the  strong  light  of  publicity. 


88  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Much  has  been  written  that  is  both  unwar- 
ranted and  unkind.  Even  the  most  confidential 
friends  do  not  realize  the  limitations  of  their 
knowledge  on  a  matter  so  intimate.  When  they 
say  they  know  all  about  it,  they  are  grievously 
mistaken.  No  love  story  (outside  of  novels)  is 
ever  told  truly.  In  the  first  place,  the  parties 
themselves  do  not  tell  all.  They  may  say  they 
do,  but  there  are  some  things  which  neither  man 
nor  woman  ever  tells.  In  the  heart  of  love  there 
is  a  Holy  of  Holies  into  which  the  most  intimate 
friend  is  not  allowed  to  look. 

And  in  the  second  place,  even  the  lovers  do 
not  see  things  alike.  If  both  really  understood, 
there  could  be  no  T/^zsunderstanding.  It  is,  then, 
presumptive  for  even  the  confidants,  and  much 
more  for  the  general  public,  to  claim  to  know  too 
much  of  a  lovers'  quarrel. 

We  would  gladly  pass  over  this  event  were  it 
not  that  certain  salient  facts  are  a  matter  of 
public  record.  It  is  certain  that  Lincoln  became 
engaged  to  Miss  Todd  in  the  year  1840.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  he  broke  the  engagement  on  January  1, 
1841.  It  is  certain  that  about  that  time  he  had 
a  horrible  attack  of  melancholy.  And  we  have 
seen  that  he  never  outgrew  his  attachment  to  his 
early  love,  Ann  Rutledge.     Whether  this  melan- 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  MARRIAGE.  39 

choly  was  the  cause  of  his  breaking  the  en- 
gagement, or  was  caused  by  it,  we  cannot  say. 
Whether  the  memory  of  Ann  Rutledge  had  any 
influence  in  the  matter,  we  do  not  know. 

Whatever  the  mental  cause  of  this  melancholy, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  it  had  also  a  physical 
cause.  This  was  his  most  violent  attack,  but  by 
■  no  means  his  only  one.  It  recurred,  with  greater 
or  less  severity,  all  through  his  life.  He  had 
been  born  and  had  grown  up  in  a  climate  noted  for 
its  malaria.  Excepting  for  the  facts  that  he 
spent  much  time  in  the  open  air,  had  abundant 
exercise,  and  ate  plain  food,  the  laws  of  sanitation 
were  not  thought  of.  It  would  be  strange  if  his 
system  were  not  full  of  malaria,  or,  what  is  only 
slightly  less  abominable,  of  the  medicines  used  to 
counteract  it.  In  either  case  he  would  be  subject 
to  depression.  An  unfortunate  occurrence  in  a 
love  affair,  coming  at  the  time  of  an  attack  of 
melancholy,  would  doubtless  bear  abundant  and 
bitter  fruit. 

Certain  it  is  that  the  engagement  was  broken, 
not  a  little  to  the  chagrin  of  both  parties.  But  a 
kind  neighbor,  Mrs.  Francis,  whose  husband  was 
editor  of  the  Springfield  Journal,  interposed  with 
her  friendly  oflBces.  She  invited  the  two  lovers  to 
her  house,  and  they  went,  each  without  the  knowl- 


90  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

edge  that  the  other  was  to  be  there.  Their  social 
converse  was  thus  renewed,  and,  in  the  company 
of  a  third  person,  Miss  Jayne,  they  continued  to 
meet  at  frequent  intervals.  Among  the  admirers 
of  Miss  Todd  were  two  young  men  who  came 
to  be  widely  known.  These  were  Douglas  and 
Shields.  With  the  latter  only  we  are  concerned 
now.  He  was  a  red-headed  little  Irishman,  with 
a  peppery  temper,  the  whole  being  set  off  with  an 
inordinate  vanity.  He  must  have  had  genuine 
ability  in  some  directions,  or  else  he  was  wonder- 
fully lucky,  for  he  was  an  officeholder  of  some 
kind  or  other,  in  different  states  of  the  Union, 
nearly  all  his  life.  It  is  doubtful  if  another  per- 
son can  be  named  who  held  as  many  different 
offices  as  he ;  certainly  no  other  man  has  ever 
represented  so  many  different  states  in  the  sen- 
ate. 

At  this  particular  time.  Shields  was  auditor  of 
the  state  of  Illinois.  The  finances  of  the  state 
were  in  a  shocking  condition.  The  state  banks 
were  not  a  success,  and  the  currency  was  nearly 
worthless.  At  the  same  time,  it  was  the  only 
money  current,  and  it  was  the  money  of  the 
state.  These  being  the  circumstances,  the  gov- 
ernor, auditor,  and  treasurer,  issued  a  circular 
forbidding  the  payment  of  state  taxes  in  this 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  MARRIAGE.  91 

paper  currency  of  the  state.  This  was  clearly  an 
outrage  upon  the  taxpayers. 

Against  this  Lincoln  protested.  Not  by  serious 
argument,  but  by  the  merciless  satire  which  he 
knew  so  well  how  to  use  upon  occasion.  Under 
the  pseudonym  of  Aunt  Eebecca,  he  wrote  a  letter 
to  the  Springfield  Journal.  The  letter  was  writ- 
ten in  the  style  of  Josh  Billings,  and  purported  to 
come  from  a  widow  residing  in  the  "  Lost  Town- 
ships." It  was  an  attempt  to  laugh  down  the 
unjust  measure,  and  in  pursuance  of  this  the 
writer  plied  Shields  with  ridicule.  The  town  was 
convulsed  with  laughter,  and  Shields  with  fury. 
The  wrath  of  the  little  Irishman  was  funnier 
than  the  letter,  and  the  joy  of  the  neighbors  in- 
creased. 

Miss  Todd  and  Miss  Jayne  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  the  fun.  Then  they  wrote  a  letter  in 
which  Aunt  Rebecca  proposed  to  soothe  his  in- 
jured feelings  by  accepting  Shields  as  her  hus- 
band. Tnis  was  followed  by  a  doggerel  rhyme 
celebrating  the  event. 

Shields'  fury  knew  no  bounds.  He  went  to  Fran- 
cis, the  editor  of  the  Journal,  and  demanded  the 
name  of  the  author  of  the  letters.  Francis  con- 
sulted with  Lincoln.  The  latter  was  unwilling 
to  permit  any  odium  to  fall  on  the  ladies,  and  sent 


92  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

word  to  Shields  that  he  would  hold  himself  re- 
sponsible for  those  letters. 

If  Shields  had  not  been  precisely  the  kind  of 
a  man  he  was,  the  matter  might  have  been  ex- 
plained and  settled  amicably.  But  no,  he  must 
have  blood.  He  sent  an  insulting  and  peremp- 
tory challenge.  When  Lincoln  became  convinced 
that  a  duel  was  necessary,  he  exercised  his  right, 
as  the  challenged  party,  of  choosing  the  weapons. 
He  selected  "broadswords  of  the  largest  size." 
This  was  another  triumph  of  humor.  The  mid- 
get of  an  Irishman  was  to  be  pitted  against  the 
giant  of  six  feet  four  inches,  who  possessed  the 
strength  of  a  Hercules,  and  the  weapons  were — 
*' broadswords  of  the  largest  size." 

The  bloody  party  repaired  to  Alton,  and  thence 
to  an  island  or  sand-bar  on  the  Missouri  side  of 
the  river.  There  a  reconciliation  was  effected, 
honor  was  satisfied  all  around,  and  they  returned 
home  in  good  spirits.  For  some  reason  Lincoln 
was  always  ashamed  of  this  farce.  Why,  we  do 
not  know.  It  may  have  been  because  he  was 
drawn  into  a  situation  in  which  there  was  a 
possibility  of  his  shedding  human  blood.  And 
he  who  was  too  tender-hearted  to  shoot  wild 
game  could  not  make  light  of  that  situation. 

The    engagement  between  Lincoln   and  Miss 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AND  MARRIAGE.  93 

Todd  was  renewed,  and  they  were  quietly  married 
at  the  home  of  the  bride's  sister,  Mrs.  Edwards, 
November  4th,  1842,  Lincoln  made  a  loyal,  true, 
indulgent  husband.  Mrs.  Lincoln  made  a  home 
that  was  hospitable,  cultured,  unostentatious. 
They  lived  together  until  the  death  of  the  hus- 
band, more  than  twenty-two  years  later. 

They  had  four  children,  all  boys.  Only  the 
eldest,  Kobert  Todd  Lincoln,  grew  to  manhood. 
He  has  had  a  career  which  is,  to  say  the  least, 
creditable  to  the  name  he  bears.  For  a  few 
months  at  the  close  of  the  war  he  was  on  the  staff 
of  General  Grant.  He  was  Secretary  of  War 
under  Garfield  and  retained  the  office  through 
the  administration  of  Arthur.  Under  President 
Harrison,  from  1889  to  1893,  he  was  minister  to 
England,  He  is  a  lawyer  by  profession,  residing 
in  Chicago — the  city  that  loved  his  father — and 
at  the  present  writing  is  president  of  the  Pullman 
Company.  In  every  position  he  has  occupied  he 
has  exercised  a  notably  wide  influence. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

THE  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  SLAVERY. 

It  is  necessary  at  this  point  to  take  a  glance  at 
the  history  of  American  slavery,  in  order  to  un- 
derstand Lincoln's  career.  In  1619,  or  one  year 
before  the  landing  of  the  Mayfloiver  at  Ply- 
mouth, a  Dutch  man-of-war  landed  a  cargo  of 
slaves  at  Jamestown,  Virginia.  For  nearly  two 
centuries  after  this  the  slave  trade  was  more  or 
less  brisk.  The  slaves  were  distributed,  though 
unevenly,  over  all  the  colonies.  But  as  time 
passed,  differences  appeared.  In  the  North,  the 
public  conscience  was  awake  to  the  injustice  of 
the  institution,  while  in  the  South  it  was  not. 
There  were  many  exceptions  in  both  localities,  but 
the  public  sentiment,  the  general  feeling,  was  as 
stated. 

There  was  another  difference.     Slave  labor  was 

more  valuable  in  the  South  than  in  the  North. 

This  was  due  to  the  climate.     The  negro  does  not 

take  kindly  to  the  rigors  of  the  North,  while  in 

the  South  the  heat,  which  is    excessive   to  the 

white  man,  is  precisely  suited  to  the  negro.     In 
94 


THE  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  SLAVERY.  95 

the  course  of  years,  therefore,  there  came  to  be 
comparatively  few  negroes  in  the  North  while 
large  numbers  were  found  in  the  South, 

It  is  generally  conceded  that  the  founders  of 
our  government  looked  forward  to  a  gradual 
extinction  of  slavery.  In  the  first  draft  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  Thomas  Jefferson 
inserted  some  scathing  remarks  about  the  King's 
part  in  the  slave  traffic.  But  it  was  felt  that 
such  remarks  would  come  with  ill  grace  from 
colonies  that  abetted  slavery,  and  the  passage  was 
stricken  out.  It  was,  however,  provided  that  the 
slave  trade  should  cease  in  the  year  1808. 

The  Ordinance  of  1787  recognized  the  difference 
in  sentiment  of  the  two  portions  of  the  country 
on  the  subject,  and  was  enacted  as  a  compromise. 
Like  several  subsequent  enactments,  it  was  sup- 
posed to  set  the  agitation  of  the  subject  for  ever 
at  rest.  This  ordinance  provided  that  slavery 
should  be  excluded  from  the  northwestern  terri- 
tory. At  that  time  the  Mississippi  river  formed 
the  western  boundary  of  the  country,  and  the 
territory  thus  ordained  to  be  free  was  that  out  of 
which  the  five  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois, 
Michigan,  and  Wisconsin  were  subsequently 
formed.  It  was  not  then  dreamed  that  the  future 
acquisition  of  new  territory,  or  the  sudden  appre- 


96  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

elation  of  the  value  of  the  slave,  would  reopen 
the  question. 

But  three  facts  changed  the  entire  complexion 
of  the  subject.  It  was  discovered  that  the  soil 
and  climate  of  the  South  were  remarkably  well 
adapted  to  the  growth  of  cotton.  Then  the  de- 
velopment of  steam  power  and  machinery  in  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  goods  created  a  sudden 
and  enormous  demand  from  Liverpool,  Man- 
chester, and  other  cities  in  England  for  American 
cotton.  There  remained  an  obstacle  to  the  sup- 
ply of  this  demand.  This  was  the  difficulty  of 
separating  the  cotton  fiber  from  the  seed.  A 
negro  woman  was  able  to  clean  about  a  pound  of 
cotton  in  a  day. 

In  1Y93,  Eli  Whitney,  a  graduate  of  Yale  col- 
lege, was  teaching  school  in  Georgia,  and  board- 
ing with  the  widow  of  General  Greene.  Certain 
planters  were  complaining,  in  the  hearing  of 
Mrs.  Greene,  of  the  difficulty  of  cleaning  cotton, 
when  she  declared  that  the  Yankee  school  teacher 
could  solve  the  difficulty,  that  he  was  so  ingenious 
that  there  was  almost  nothing  he  could  not  do. 

The  matter  was  brought  to  Whitney's  atten- 
tion, who  protested  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the 
subject, — he  hardly  knew  a  cotton  seed  when  he 
saw  it.     Nevertheless  he  set  to  work  and  invented 


THE  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  SLAVERY.  97 

the  cotton  gin.  By  this  machine  one  man,  turn- 
ing a  crank,  could  clean  fifty  pounds  of  cotton  a 
day.  The  effect  of  this  was  to  put  a  new  face 
upon  the  cotton  trade.  It  enabled  the  planters 
to  meet  the  rapidly-increasing  demand  for  raw 
cotton. 

It  had  an  equal  influence  on  the  slavery  ques- 
tion. Only  negroes  can  work  successfully  in  the 
cotton  fields.  There  was  a  phenomenal  increase 
in  the  demand  for  negro  labor.  And  this  was 
fifteen  years  before  the  time  limit  of  the  slave 
trade  in  1808. 

There  soon  came  to  be  a  decided  jealousy  be- 
tween the  slave-holding  and  the  non-slave-hold- 
ing portion  of  the  country  which  continually  in- 
creased. At  the  time  of  the  Ordinance  of  1787 
the  two  parts  of  the  country,  were  about  evenly 
balanced.  Each  section  kept  a  vigilant  watch  of 
the  other  section  so  as  to  avoid  losing  the  balance 
of  power. 

As  the  country  enlarged,  this  balance  was  pre- 
served by  the  admission  of  free  and  slave  states 
in  turn.  Vermont  was  paired  with  Kentucky  ; 
Tennessee  with  Ohio  ;  Louisiana  with  Indiana  ; 
and  Mississippi  with  Illinois.  In  1836,  Michigan 
and  Arkansas  were  admitted  on  the  same  day. 

And  in  1845  Iowa  and  Florida  were  admitted  also 

7 


98  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

on  the  same  day.     This  indicates  that  the  jeal- 
ousy of  the  two  parties  was  growing  more  acute. 

Then  Texas  was  admitted  December  29, 1845, 
and  was  not  balanced  until  the  admission  of  Wis- 
consin in  1848. 

We  must  now  go  back  to  the  admission  of 
Missouri.  It  came  into  the  Union  as  a  slave 
state,  but  by  what  is  known  as  the  Missouri 
Compromise  of  1820.  By  this  compromise  the  con- 
cession of  slavery  to  Missouri  was  offset  by  the 
enactment  that  all  slavery  should  be  forever  ex- 
cluded from  the  territory  west  of  that  state  and 
north  of  its  southern  boundary  :  namely,  the 
parallel  of  36°  30'. 

The  mutterings  of  the  conflict  were  heard  at  the 
time  of  the  admission  of  Texas  in  1848.  It  was 
again  "  set  forever  at  rest  "  by  what  was  known 
as  the  Wilmot  proviso.  A  year  or  two  later,  the 
discovery  of  gold  in  California  and  the  acquisition 
of  New  Mexico  reopened  the  whole  question. 
Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky,  a  slaveholder  but  op- 
posed to  the  extension  of  slavery,  was  then  a 
membsr  of  the  House.  By  a  series  of  compro- 
mises— he  had  a  brilliant  talent  for  compromise — 
he  once  more  set  the  whole  question  ' '  forever 
at  rest."  This  rest  lasted  for  four  years.  But 
in  1852  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe  published 


THE  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  SLAVERY.  99 

"  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin,"  an  event  of  national 
importance.  To  a  degree  unprecedented,  it  roused 
the  conscience  of  those  who  were  opposed  to 
slavery  and  inflamed  the  wrath  of  those  who 
favored  it. 

The  sudden  and  rude  awakening  from  this  rest 
came  in  1854  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise. The  overland  travel  to  California  after 
the  year  1848  had  given  to  the  intervening  terri- 
tory an  importance  far  in  excess  of  its  actual 
population.  It  early  became  desirable  to  admit 
into  the  Union  both  Kansas  and  Nebraska  ;  and 
the  question  arose  whether  slavery  should  be  ex- 
cluded according  to  the  act  of  1820.  The  slave- 
holding  residents  of  Missouri  were  hostile  to  the 
exclusion  of  slavery.  It  was  situated  just  beyond 
their  border,  and  there  is  no  wonder  that  they 
were  unable  to  see  any  good  reason  why  they 
could  not  settle  there  with  their  slaves.  They  had 
the  sympathy  of  the  slave  states  generally. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  free  states  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  extending  the  slave  power.  To  them 
it  seemed  that  the  slaveholders  were  planning 
for  a  vast  empire  of  slavery,  an  empire  which 
should  include  not  only  the  southern  half  of  the 
United  States,  but  also  Mexico,  Central  America, 
and  possibly  a  portion  of  South  America.     The 


100  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

advocates  of  slavery  certainly  presented  and 
maintained  an  imperious  and  despotic  temper. 
Feeling  was  running  high  on  both  sides  in  the 
early  fifties. 

A  leading  cyclopedia  concludes  a  brief  article  on 
the  Missouri  Compromise  with  the  parenthetical 
reference, — "see  Douglas,  Stephen  A."  The 
implication  contained  in  these  words  is  fully 
warranted.  The  chief  event  in  the  life  of  Douglas 
is  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.  And 
the  history  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  cannot  be 
written  without  giving  large  place  to  the  activity 
of  Douglas.  His  previous  utterances  had  not  led 
observers,  however  watchful,  to  suspect  this.  In 
the  compromise  of  1850  he  had  spoken  with  great 
emphasis  :  ''In  taking  leave  of  this  subject,  I 
wish  to  state  that  I  have  determined  never  to 
make  another  speech  upon  the  slavery  question. 
.  .  .  We  claim  that  the  compromise  is  a  final 
settlement.  .  .  .  Those  who  preach  peace  should 
not  be  the  first  to  commence  and  reopen  an  old 
quarrel." 

This  was  the  man  who  four  years  later  recom- 
menced and  reopened  this  old  quarrel  of  slavery. 
In  the  meantime  something  had  occurred.  In 
1852  he  had  been  the  unsuccessful  candidate  for 
the  democratic  nomination  for  President,  and  he 


THE  ENCROACHMENTS  OF  SLAVERY.         101 

had  aspirations  for  the  nomination  in  1856,  when 
a  nomination  would  have  been  equivalent  to  an 
election.  It  thus  seemed  politic  for  him  to  make 
some  decided  move  which  would  secure  to  him 
the  loyalty  of  the  slave  power. 

Upon  Stephen  A.  Douglas  rested  the  responsi- 
bility of  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise, 
He  was  at  that  time  chairman  of  the  Senate 
committee  on  Territories.  His  personal  friend 
and  political  manager  for  Illinois,  William  A. 
Richardson,  held  a  similar  position  in  the  House. 
The  control  of  the  legislation  upon  this  subject 
was  then  absolutely  in  the  hands  of  Senator 
Douglas,  the  man  who  had  "determined  never 
to  make  another  speech  on  the  slavery  question." 

It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  book  to  go 
into  the  details  of  this  iniquitous  plot,  for  plot  it 
was.  But  the  following  passage  may  be  quoted 
as  exhibiting  the  method  of  the  bill  :  "It  being 
the  true  intent  and  meaning  of  this  act  not  to 
legislate  slavery  into  any  territory  or  state,  nor 
to  exclude  it  therefrom,  but  to  leave  the  people 
thereof  perfectly  free  to  form  and  regulate  their 
domestic  institutions  in  their  own  way,  subject 
only  to  the  Constitution."  In  other  words,  no 
state  or  territory  could  be  surely  safe  from  the 
intrusion  of  slavery. 


102  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln  had  been  practising  law  and  had  been 
out  of  politics  for  six  years.  It  was  this  bill  which 
called  him  back  to  politics,  "  like  a  fire-bell  in 
the  night." 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  AWAKENING  OP  THE  LION. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  caused 
great  excitement  throughout  the  land.  The  con- 
science of  the  anti-slavery  portion  of  the  com- 
munity was  shocked,  as  was  also  that  of  the 
large  numbers  of  people  who,  though  not  opposed 
to  slavery  in  itself,  were  opposed  to  its  extension. 
It  showed  that  this  institution  had  a  deadening 
effect  upon  the  moral  nature  of  the  people  who 
cherished  it.  There  was  no  compromise  so  gen- 
erous that  it  would  satisfy  their  greed,  there  were 
no  promises  so  solemn  that  they  could  be  de- 
pended on  to  keep  them.  They  were  not  content 
with  maintaining  slavery  in  their  own  territory. 
It  was  not  enough  that  they  should  be  allowed  to 
take  slaves  into  a  territory  consecrated  to  free- 
dom, nor  that  all  the  powers  of  the  law  were 
devoted  to  recapturing  a  runaway  slave  and  re- 
turning him  to  renewed  horrors.  They  wanted 
all  the  territories  which  they  had  promised  to  let 
alone.  It  was  a  logical,  and  an  altogether  prob- 
able conclusion  that  they  only  waited  for  the  op- 

103 


104  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

portunity  to  invade  the  northern  states  and  turn 
them  from  free-soil  into  slave  territory. 

The  indignation  over  this  outrage  not  only 
flamed  from  thousands  of  pulpits,  but  newspapers 
and  political  clubs  of  all  kinds  took  up  the  subject 
on  one  side  or  the  other.  Every  moralist  became 
a  politician,  and  every  politician  discussed  the 
moral  bearings  of  his  tenets. 

In  no  locality  was  this  excitement  more  intense 
than  in  Illinois.  There  were  special  reasons  for 
this.  It  is  a  very  long  state,  stretching  nearly 
five  hundred  miles  from  north  to  south.  Now,  it 
is  a  general  law  among  Americans  that  migration 
follows  very  nearly  the  parallels  of  latitude  from 
East  to  West.  For  this  reason  the  northern  por- 
tion of  the  state  was  mostly  settled  by  northern 
people  whose  sympathies  were  against  slavery  ; 
while  the  southern  portion  of  the  state  was 
mostly  settled  by  southern  people,  whose  sympa- 
thies were  in  favor  of  slavery.  The  state  was 
nearly  evenly  divided,  and  the  presence  of  these 
two  parties  kept  up  a  continual  friction  and  in- 
tensified the  feeling  on  both  sides. 

To  this  general  condition  must  be  added  the 
fact  that  Illinois  was  the  home  of  Douglas,  who 
was  personally  and  almost  solely  responsible  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.     In  that 


THE  AWAKENING  OF  THE  LION.  105 

state  he  had  risen  from  obscurity  to  be  the  most 
conspicuous  man  in  the  United  States.  His  party 
had  a  decided  majority  in  the  state,  and  over  it 
he  had  absolute  control.  He  was  their  idol.  Im- 
perious by  nature,  shrewd,  unscrupulous,  a  de- 
bater of  marvelous  skill,  a  master  of  assemblies, 
a  man  who  knew  not  the  meaning  of  the  word 
fail — this  was  Douglas.  But  his  home  was  in 
Chicago,  a  city  in  which  the  anti-slavery  senti- 
ment predominated. 

When  Douglas  returned  to  his  state,  his  in 
more  than  one  sense,  it  was  not  as  a  conquering 
hero.  He  did  not  return  direct  from  Washing- 
ton, but  delayed,  visiting  various  portions  of  the 
country.  Possibly  this  was  due  to  the  urgency 
of  business,  probably  it  was  in  order  to  give  time 
for  the  excitement  to  wear  itself  out.  But  this 
did  not  result,  and  his  approach  was  the  occasion 
of  a  fresh  outbreak  of  feeling  in  Chicago;  the  de- 
monstrations of  the  residents  of  that  city  were 
not  a  flattering  welcome  home.  Bells  were  tolled 
as  for  public  mourning,  flags  were  hung  at  half 
mast.  Nothing  was  omitted  that  might  empha- 
size the  general  aversion  to  the  man  who  had 
done  that  infamous  deed. 

A  public  meeting  was  planned,  at  which  he  was 
to  speak  in  defense  of  his  course.     A  large  crowd, 


106  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

about  five  thousand  people,  gathered.  Douglas 
was  surrounded  by  his  own  friends,  but  the  major 
portion  of  the  crowd  was  intensely  hostile  to  him. 
When  he  began  to  speak  the  opposition  broke 
out.  He  was  interrupted  by  questions  and  com- 
ments. These  so  exasperated  him  that  he  com- 
pletely lost  control  of  himself.  He  stormed,  he 
shook  his  fist,  he  railed.  The  meeting  broke  up  in 
confusion.  Then  came  a  reaction  which  greatly 
profited  him.  The  papers  published  that  he 
had  attempted  to  speak  and  had  not  been  allowed 
to  do  so,  but  had  been  hooted  by  a  turbulent 
mob.  All  of  which  was  true.  By  the  time  he 
spoke  again  the  sympathy  of  the  public  had 
swung  to  his  side,  and  he  was  sure  of  a  favorable 
hearing. 

This  second  speech  was  on  the  occasion  of  the 
state  fair  at  Springfield.  Men  of  all  kinds  and 
of  every  political  complexion  were  present  from 
even  the  remotest  localities  in  the  state.  The 
speech  was  to  be  an  address  to  a  large  audience 
fairly  representative  of  the  entire  state. 

Lincoln  was  there.  Not  merely  because  Spring- 
field was  his  home.  He  doubtless  would  have 
been  there  anyhow.  His  ability  as  a  politician, 
his  growing  fame  as  a  lawyer  and  a  public 
speaker,    his  well-known  antipathy  to   slavery, 


THE  AWAKENING  OF  THE  LION.  107 

singled  him  out  as  the  one  man  who  was  preem- 
inently fitted  to  answer  the  speech  of  Douglas, 
and  he  was  by  a  tacit  agreement  selected  for  this 
purpose. 

Lincoln  himself  felt  the  stirring  impulse.  It  is 
not  uncommon  for  the  call  of  duty,  or  oppor- 
tunity, to  come  once  in  a  lifetime  to  the  heart  of 
a  man  with  over-mastering  power,  so  that  his 
purposes  and  powers  are  roused  to  an  unwonted 
and  transforming  degree  of  activity.  It  is  the 
flight  of  the  eaglet,  the  awakening  of  the  lion, 
the  transfiguration  of  the  human  spirit.  To  Lin- 
coln this  call  now  came.  He  was  the  same  man, 
but  he  had  reached  another  stage  of  development, 
entered  a  new  experience,  exhibiting  new  powers, 
— or  the  old  powers  to  such  a  degree  that  they 
were  virtually  new.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this 
chapter  to  note  three  of  his  speeches  which  attest 
this  awakening. 

The  first  of  these  was  delivered  at  the  state  Fair 
at  Springfield.  Douglas  had  spoken  October  3d, 
1854.  Lincoln  was  present,  and  it  was  mentioned 
by  Douglas,  and  was  by  all  understood,  that  he 
would  reply  the  following  day,  October  4th. 
Douglas  was,  up  to  that  time,  not  only  the  shrewd- 
est politician  in  the  country,  but  he  was  acknowl- 
edged to  be  the  ablest  debater.     He  was  particu- 


108  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

larly  well  prepared  upon  this  subject,  for  to  it  he 
had  given  almost  his  entire  time  for  nearly  a 
year,  and  had  discussed  it  in  congress  and  out, 
and  knew  thoroughly  the  current  objections.  The 
occasion  was  unusual,  and  this  was  to  be,  and 
doubtless  it  was,  his  greatest  effort. 

The  following  day  came  Lincoln's  reply.  As  a 
matter  of  fairness,  he  said  at  the  outset  that  he 
did  not  want  to  present  anything  but  the  truth. 
If  he  said  anything  that  was  not  true,  he  would 
be  glad  to  have  Douglas  correct  him  at  once. 
Douglas,  with  customary  shrewdness,  took  ad- 
vantage of  this  offer  by  making  frequent  inter- 
ruptions, so  as  to  break  the  effect  of  the  logic 
and  destroy  the  flow  of  thought.  Finally  Lin- 
coln's patience  was  exhausted,  and  he  paused  in 
his  argument  to  say:  "Gentlemen,  I  cannot 
afford  to  spend  my  time  in  quibbles.  I  take  the 
responsibility  of  asserting  the  truth  myself,  re- 
lieving Judge  Douglas  from  the  necessity  of  his 
impertinent  corrections."  This  silenced  his  op- 
ponent, and  he  spoke  without  further  interrup- 
tion to  the  end,  his  speech  being  three  hours  and 
ten  minutes  long. 

The  effect  of  the  speech  was  wonderful.  The 
scene,  as  described  next  day  in  the  Springfield 
Joicrnal,  is  worth  quoting  : 


THE  AWAKENING  OF  THE  LION.  109 

"  Lincoln  quivered  with  feeling  and  emotion. 
The  whole  house  was  as  still  as  death.  He  at- 
tacked the  bill  with  unusual  warmth  and  energy, 
and  all  felt  that  a  man  of  strength  was  its 
enemy,  and  that  he  meant  to  blast  it  if  he  could 
by  strong  and  manly  efforts.  He  was  most  suc- 
cessful ;  and  the  house  approved  the  glorious 
triumph  of  truth  by  loud  and  long-continued 
huzzas.  .  .  .  Mr.  Lincoln  exhibited  Douglas  in 
all  the  attitudes  he  could  be  placed  in  in  a 
friendly  debate.  He  exhibited  the  bill  in  all  its 
aspects  to  show  its  humbuggery  and  falsehoods, 
and  when  thus  torn  to  rags,  cut  into  slips,  held 
up  to  the  gaze  of  the  vast  crowd,  a  kind  of  scorn 
was  visible  upon  the  face  of  the  crowd,  and 
upon  the  lips  of  the  most  eloquent  speaker.  .  .  . 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  speech,  every  man  felt 
that  it  was  unanswerable — that  no  human  power 
could  overthrow  it  or  trample  it  under  foot.  The 
long  and  repeated  applause  evinced  the  feelings 
of  the  crowd,  and  gave  token,  too,  of  the  univer- 
sal assent  to  Lincoln's  whole  argument ;  and 
every  mind  present  did  homage  to  the  man  who 
took  captive  the  heart  and  broke  like  a  sun  over 
the  understanding." 

The  speech  itself,  and  the  manner  of  its  recep- 
tion, could  not  other  than  rouse  Douglas  to  a 


110  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tempest  of  wrath.  It  was  a  far  more  severe  pun- 
ishment than  to  be  hooted  from  the  stage,  as  he 
had  been  in  Chicago.  He  was  handled  as  he  had 
never  been  handled  in  his  life.  He  took  the  plat- 
form, angrily  claimed  that  he  had  been  abused, 
and  started  to  reply.  But  he  did  not  get  far. 
He  had  no  case.  He  became  confused,  lost  his 
self-control,  hesitated,  finally  said  that  he  would 
reply  in  the  evening,  and  left  the  stage.  That 
was  the  end  of  the  incident  so  far  as  Douglas  was 
concerned.  When  the  evening  came  he  had  dis- 
appeared, and  there  was  no  reply. 

Twelve  days  later,  on  October  16,  Lincoln  had 
promised  to  speak  in  Peoria.  To  that  place 
Douglas  followed,  or  preceded  him.  Douglas 
made  his  speech  in  the  afternoon,  and  Lincoln 
followed  in  the  evening.  It  was  the  same  line  of 
argument  as  in  the  other  speech.  Lincoln  later 
consented  to  write  it  out  for  publication.  We 
thus  have  the  Springfield  and  Peoria  speech, 
minus  the  glow  of  extemporaneous  address,  the 
inspiration  of  the  orator.  These  are  important 
factors  which  not  even  the  man  himself  could  re- 
produce. But  we  have  his  own  report,  which  is 
therefore  authentic.  The  most  salient  point  in 
his  speech  is  his  reply  to  Douglas's  plausible  rep- 
resentation that  the  people  of  any  locality  wei» 


THE  AWAKENING  OF  THE  LION.  HI 

competent  to  govern  themselves.  "I  admit," 
said  Lincoln,  "that  the  emigrant  to  Kansas  and 
Nebraska  is  competent  to  govern  himself,  but 
I  deny  his  right  to  govern  any  other  person  with- 
out that  other  person's  consent."  This  is  the 
kernel  of  the  entire  question  of  human  slavery. 

The  result  of  this  speech  at  Peoria  was  less 
dramatic  than  that  at  Springfield,  but  it  was  no 
less  instructive.  Douglas  secured  from  Lincoln 
an  agreement  that  neither  of  them  should  again 
speak  during  that  campaign.  It  was  quite  evi- 
dent that  he  had  learned  to  fear  his  antagonist 
and  did  not  wish  again  to  risk  meeting  him  on 
the  rostrum.  Lincoln  kept  the  agreement. 
Douglas  did  not.  Before  he  got  home  in  Chicago, 
he  stopped  off  to  make  another  speech. 

These  speeches  were  made  in  1854.  It  is  now 
worth  while  to  skip  over  two  years  to  record  an- 
other epoch-making  speech,  one  which  in  spirit 
and  temper  belongs  here.  For  it  shows  to  what 
intensity  Lincoln  was  aroused  on  this  vast  and 
ever-encroaching  subject  of  slavery.  This  was 
at  the  convention  which  was  held  in  Bloomington 
for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  Republican 
party.  The  date  of  the  convention  was  May  29, 
1856.  The  center  of  interest  was  Lincoln's  speech. 
The  reporters  were  there  in  sufficient  force,  and 


112      ■  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

we  would  surely  have  had  a  verbatim  report — 
except  for  one  thing.  The  reporters  did  not  re- 
port. Let  Joseph  Medill,  of  the  Chicago  Tribune, 
tell  why  : 

''It  was  my  journalistic  duty,  though  a  del- 
egate to  the  convention,  to  make  a  '  long-hand ' 
report  of  the  speeches  delivered  for  the  Chicago 
Tribune.  I  did  make  a  few  paragraphs  of  what 
Lincoln  said  in  the  first  eight  or  ten  minutes, 
but  I  became  so  absorbed  in  his  magnetic  oratory 
that  I  forgot  myself  and  ceased  to  take  notes, 
and  joined  with  the  convention  in  cheering  and 
stamping  and  clapping  to  the  end  of  his  speech. 

"  I  well  remember  that  after  Lincoln  had  sat 
down  and  calm  had  succeeded  the  tempest,  I 
waked  out  of  a  sort  of  hypnotic  trance,  and  then 
thought  of  my  report  for  the  Tribune.  There 
was  nothing  written  but  an  abbreviated  intro- 
duction. 

"  It  was  some  sort  of  satisfaction  to  find  that 
I  had  not  been  '  scooped, '  as  all  the  newspaper 
men  present  had  been  equally  carried  away  by 
the  excitement  caused  by  the  wonderful  oration, 
and  had  made  no  report  or  sketch  of  the  speech." 

Mr.  Herndon,  who  was  Lincoln's  law  partner, 
and  who  knew  him  so  intimately  that  he  might 
be  trusted  to  keep  his   coolness  during  the  en- 


THE  AWAKENING  OF  THE  LION.  113 

thusiasm  of  the  hour,  and  who  had  the  mechan- 
ical habit  of  taking  notes  for  him,  because  he 
was  his  partner,  said  :  "I  attempted  for  about 
fifteen  minutes,  as  was  usual  with  me  then,  to 
take  notes,  but  at  the  end  of  that  time  I  threw 
pen  and  paper  away  and  lived  only  in  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  hour," 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  audience  was  gen- 
erally, if  not  unanimously,  affected  in  the  same 
way.  The  hearers  went  home  and  told  about 
this  wonderful  speech.  Journalists  wrote  flam- 
ing editorials  about  it.  The  fame  of  it  went 
everywhere,  but  there  was  no  report  of  it.  It 
therefore  came  to  be  known  as  "Lincoln's  lost 
speech." 

Precisely  forty  years  afterwards  one  H.  C. 
Whitney  published  in  one  of  the  magazines  an 
account  of  it.  He  says  that  he  made  notes  of 
the  speech,  went  home  and  wrote  them  out. 
Why  he  withheld  this  report  from  the  public  for 
so  many  years,  especially  in  view  of  the  general 
demand  for  it,  does  not  precisely  appear.  The 
report,  however,  is  interesting. 

But  after  the  lapse  of  nearly  half  a  century,  it 

is   a  matter  of  minor  importance  whether  Mr. 

Whitney's  report  be  accurate  or  not.     To  us  the 

value  of  the  three   speeches   mentioned  in   this 
8 


114  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

chapter  is  found  largely  in  the  impression  they 
produced  upon  the  hearers.  The  three  taken 
together  show  that  Lincoln  had  waked  to  a  new 
life.  The  lion  in  him  was  thoroughly  roused,  he 
was  clothed  with  a  tremendous  powder,  w^hich  up 
to  this  point  had  not  been  suspected  by  antag- 
onists nor  dreamed  of  by  admiring  friends. 
This  new  and  mighty  power  he  held  and  wielded 
until  his  life's  end.  Thenceforth  he  was  an  im- 
portant factor  in  national  history. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

TWO  THINGS  THAT  LINCOLN  MISSED. 

Lincoln's  intimate  friends  have  noted  that  he 
seemed  to  be  under  the  impression  that  he  was  a 
man  of  destiny.  This  phrase  was  a  favorite  with 
Napoleon,  who  often  used  it  of  himself.  But  the 
two  men  were  so  widely  different  in  character  and 
career,  that  it  is  with  reluctance  that  one  joins 
their  names  even  for  the  moment  that  this  phrase 
is  used.  Napoleon  was  eager  to  sacrifice  the 
whole  of  Europe  to  satisfy  the  claims  of  his  per- 
sonal ambition ;  Lincoln  was  always  ready  to 
stand  aside  and  sacrifice  himself  for  the  country. 
The  one  was  selfishness  incarnate  ;  the  other  was 
a  noble  example  of  a  man  who  never  hesitated  to 
subordinate  his  own  welfare  to  the  general  good, 
and  whose  career  came  to  its  climax  in  his 
martyrdom.  Whether  the  presidency  was  or 
was  not,  Lincoln's  destiny,  it  was  certainly  his 
destination.  Had  anything  occurred  to  thrust 
him  one  side  in  this  career,  it  would  have  prevented 

his  complete   development,  and  would  have  been 

115 


116  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

an  irreparable  calamity  to  his  country  and  to  the 
world. 

Twice  in  his  life  he  earnestly  desired  certain 
offices  and  failed  to  get  them.  Had  he  succeeded 
in  either  case,  it  is  not  at  all  probable  that  he 
would  ever  have  become  President.  One  therefore 
rejoices  in  the  knowledge  that  he  missed  them. 

After  his  term  in  congress  he  was,  in  a  measure, 
out  of  employment.  Political  life  is  like  to  destroy 
one's  taste  for  the  legitimate  practise  of  the  law, 
as  well  as  to  scatter  one's  clients.  Lincoln  was 
not  a  candidate  for  reelection.  Upon  the  election 
of  General  Taylor  it  was  generally  understood 
that  the  democrats  would  be  turned  out  of  office 
and  their  places  supplied  by  whigs.  The  office  of 
Land  Commissioner  was  expected  to  go  to  Illinois. 
At  the  solicitation  of  friends  he  applied  for  it,  but 
so  fearful  was  he  that  he  might  stand  in  the  way 
of  others,  or  impede  the  welfare  of  the  state,  that 
he  did  not  urge  his  application  until  too  late.  The 
President  offered  him  the  governorship  of  the 
territory  of  Oregon,  which  he  declined.  Had  he 
been  successful  in  his  application,  it  would  have 
kept  him  permanently  out  of  the  study  and 
practise  of  the  law.  It  would  have  kept  his  resi- 
dence in  Washington  so  that  it  would  not  have 
been  possible  for  him  to  hold  himself  in  touch  with 


TWO  THINGS  THAT  LINCOLN  MISSED.         II7 

his  neighbors.  So  far  as  concerned  his  ilUistrious 
career,  it  would  have  side-tracked  him.  He  him- 
self recognized  this  later,  and  was  glad  that  he 
had  failed  in  this,  his  first  and  only  application 
for  a  government  appointment. 

About  six  years  later  he  again  missed  an  office 
to  which  he  aspired.  This  was  in  1854,  the  year 
of  the  speeches  at  Springfield  and  Peoria  described 
in  the  last  chapter.  Shields,  the  man  of  the  duel 
with  broad-swords,  was  United  States  senator. 
His  term  of  office  was  about  to  expire  and  the 
legislature  would  elect  his  successor.  The  state 
of  Illinois  had  been  democratic, — both  the  senators. 
Shields  and  Douglas,  were  democrats, — but  owing 
to  the  new  phases  of  the  slavery  question,  the 
anti-slavery  men  were  able  to  carry  the  legislature, 
though  by  a  narrow  margin. 

Lincoln  had  been  very  useful  to  the  party  dur- 
ing the  campaign  and  had  been  elected  to  the 
legislature  from  his  own  district.  He  wanted  to 
be  senator.  He  was  unquestionably  the  choice  of 
nearly  all  the  whigs.  Had  an  election  taken  place 
then,  he  would  undoubtedly  have  been  elected. 

But  a  curious  obstacle  intervened.  There  was 
a  provision  in  the  constitution  of  Illinois  which 
disqualified  members  of  the  legislature  from  hold- 
ing the  office  of  United  States  senator.     Lincoln 


118  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  therefore  not  eligible.  He  could  only  become 
so  by  resigning  his  seat.  There  appeared  to  be 
no  risk  in  this,  for  he  had  a  safe  majority  of  605. 
It  seemed  as  though  he  could  name  his  successor. 
But  there  are  many  uncertainties  in  politics. 

The  campaign  had  been  one  of  unusual  excite- 
ment and  it  was  followed  by  that  apathy  which  is 
the  common  sequel  to  all  excessive  activity.  The 
democrats  kept  quiet.  They  put  up  no  candidate. 
They  fostered  the  impression  that  they  would 
take  no  part  in  the  special  election.  Only  one 
democrat  was  casually  named  as  a  possible  victim 
to  be  sacrificed  to  the  triumph  of  the  whigs.  He 
was  not  a  popular  nor  an  able  man,  and  was  not 
to  be  feared  as  a  candidate  for  this  office. 

But  the  unusual  quietness  of  the  democrats 
was  the  most  dangerous  sign.  They  had  organized 
a  "  still  hunt."  This  was  an  adroit  move,  but  it 
was  perfectly  fair.  It  is  not  difficult  to  guess 
whose  shrewdness  planned  this,  seeing  that  the 
question  was  vital  to  the  career  of  Douglas.  The 
democratic  party  preserved  their  organization. 
The  trusted  lieutenants  held  the  rank  and  file  in 
readiness  for  action.  When  the  polls  were  opened 
on  election  day,  the  democrats  were  there,  and 
the  whigs  were  not.  At  every  election  precinct 
appeared  democratic  workers  to  electioneer  for 


TWO  THINGS  THAT  LINCOLN  MISSED.        119 

the  man  of  their  choice.  Carriages  were  provided 
for  the  aged,  the  infirm,  and  the  indifferent  who 
were  driven  to  the  polls  so  that  their  votes  were 
saved  to  the  party. 

The  whigs  were  completely  taken  by  surprise. 
It  was  too  late  to  talk  up  their  candidate.  They 
had  no  provision  and  no  time  to  get  the  absent 
and  indifferent  to  the  polls.  The  result  was  dis- 
astrous to  them.  Lincoln's  "safe " majority  was 
wiped  out  and  a  Douglas  democrat  was  chosen  to 
succeed  him. 

It  may  be  surmised  that  this  did  not  tend  to 
fill  the  whigs  with  enthusiasm,  nor  to  unite  the 
party.  From  all  over  the  state  there  arose  grum 
blings  that  the  Sangamon  contingent  of  the  party 
had  been  so  ignobly  outwitted.  Lincoln  had  to 
bear  the  brunt  of  this  discontent.  This  was  not 
unnatural  nor  unreasonable,  for  he  was  the  party 
manager  for  that  district.  When  the  legislature 
went  into  joint  session  Lincoln  had  manifestly 
lost  some  of  his  prestige.  It  may  be  said  by  way 
of  palliation  that  the  "  still  hunt"  was  then  new 
in  politics.  And  it  was  the  only  time  that  Lincoln 
was  caught  napping. 

Even  with  the  loss  to  the  whigs  of  this  seat,  the 
Douglas  democrats  were  in  a  minority.  Lincoln 
had  a  plurality  but  not  a  majority.     The  balance 


120  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

of  power  was  held  by  five  anti-Nebraska  demo- 
crats, who  would  not  under  any  circumstances 
vote  for  Lincoln  or  any  other  whig.  Their  candi- 
date was  Lyman  Trumbull.  After  a  long  and 
weary  deadlock,  the  democrats  dropped  their  can- 
didate Shields  and  took  up  the  governor  of  the 
state.  The  governor  has  presumably  a  strong 
influence  with  the  legislature,  and  this  move  of 
the  partisans  was  a  real  menace  to  the  anti-slavery 
men.  Lincoln  recognized  the  danger,  at  once 
withdrew  his  candidacy,  and  persuaded  all  the 
anti-slavery  men  to  unite  on  Trumbull.  This  was 
no  ordinary  conciliation,  for  upon  every  subject 
except  the  Nebraska  question  alone,  Trumbull 
was  an  uncompromising  democrat.  The  whig 
votes  gave  him  the  necessary  majority.  The  man 
who  started  in  with  five  votes  won  the  prize, 
Lincoln  not  only  failed  to  get  into  the  senate,  but 
he  was  out  of  the  legislature. 

In  commenting  on  this  defeat  of  Lincoln  for  the 
United  States  senate,  the  present  writer  wishes 
first  of  all  to  disavow  all  superstitions  and  all  be- 
lief in  signs.  But  there  is  one  fact  which  is  worthy 
of  mention,  and  for  which  different  persons  will 
propose  different  explanations.  It  is  a  fact  that 
in  all  the  history  of  the  United  States  no  person 
has  been  elected  direct  from  the  senate  to  the 


TWO  THINGS  THAT  LINCOLN  MISSED.        121 

presidency.  This  is  the  more  interesting  because 
the  prominent  senator  wields  a  very  powerful 
influence,  an  influence  second  only  to  that  of 
the  President  himself.  When  one  considers  the 
power  of  a  leading  senator,  one  would  suppose 
that  that  was  the  natural  stepping-stone  to  the 
presidency.  But  history  does  not  support  this 
supposition.     It  teaches  the  opposite. 

Many  prominent  senators  have  greatly  desired 
to  be  president,  but  no  one  has  succeeded  unless 
he  first  retired  from  the  senate.  Among  the  more 
widely  known  aspirants  to  the  presidency  who 
have  been  unsuccessful,  are  Jackson  (his  first 
candidacy),  Clay,  Webster,  Douglas,  Morton, 
Seward,  Sherman,  and  Blaine.  So  many  failures 
may  be  a  mere  coincidence.  On  the  other  hand 
there  may  be  a  reason  for  them.  They  seem  to 
teach  that  the  senate  is  not  the  best  start  for  the 
presidential  race,  but  the  worst. 

The  history  of  ethics  teaches  that  the  most 
determined  hostility  against  the  best  is  the  good, 
not  the  bad.  So  it  may  be  that  in  the  politics  of 
this  country,  the  greatest  obstacle  to  the  highest 
position  may  be  the  next  highest. 

These  facts,  of  course,  do  not  prove  that  if 
Lincoln  had  been  elected  senator  in  1854,  or  in 
1858   when   he    was   the   opposing  candidate   to 


122  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Douglas,  he  would  therefore  have  failed  of 
election  to  the  presidency.  He  may  have  been  an 
exception.  He  may  have  been  the  only  one  to 
break  this  rule  in  over  a  hundred  years.  But  the 
sequel  proved  that  he  was  best  where  he  was. 
He  remained  among  his  people.  He  moused  about 
the  state  library,  enduring  criticism  but  master- 
ing the  history  of  slavery.  He  kept  a  watchful 
eye  on  the  progress  of  events.  He  was  always 
alert  to  seize  an  opportunity  and  proclaim  in 
trumpet  tones  the  voice  of  conscience,  the  de- 
mands of  eternal  righteousness.  But  he  waited. 
His  hour  had  not  yet  come.  He  bided  his  time. 
It  was  not  a  listless  waiting,  it  was  intensely 
earnest  and  active.  Far  more  than  he  could 
realize,  he  was  in  training  for  the  stupendous 
responsibilities  which  should  in  due  time  fall  upon 
him.  It  is  fortunate  for  all  that  he  did  not  learn 
to  limit  his  powers  to  the  arena  of  the  senate, 
which,  though  great,  is  limited.  He  kept  near  to 
the  people.  When  his  hour  struck,  he  was  ready. 
For  this  reason  we  call  his  two  failures  escapes. 
He  did  not  get  the  government  land  office,  he  did 
not  get  the  senatorship.  He  did  get  the  presi- 
dency, and  that  in  the  crisis  of  the  history  of  the 
nation.  What  is  more,  when  he  got  that  he  was 
thoroughly  furnished  unto  every  good  work. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  BIRTH  OP  THE   REPUBLICAN   PARTY. 

In  the  course  of  history  there  sometimes  arises 
a  man  who  has  a  marvelous  power  of  attaching 
others  to  himself.  He  commands  a  measure  of 
devotion  and  enthusiasm  which  it  is  impossible 
fully  to  understand.  Such  a  man  was  Henry 
Clay.  Under  the  fascination  of  his  qualities 
Lincoln  lived.  From  childhood  to  maturity  Clay 
had  been  his  idol,  and  Clay's  party,  the  whig^ 
nearly  synonymous  with  all  that  was  desirable 
in  American  politics.  It  was  therefore  no  easy 
matter  for  Lincoln  to  leave  the  whig  party. 
Nothing  could  accomplish  this  but  the  overmas- 
tering power  of  a  noble  emotion. 

From  childhood  Lincoln  had  hated  slavery. 
The  fact  that  Kentucky  was  a  slave  state  had  its 
influence  in  his  father's  removal  to  Indiana.  His 
personal  observations  upon  his  journeys  down  the 
Mississippi  River  had  given  him  a  keener  feeling 
on  the  subject.  The  persistent  and  ever-increas- 
ing outrages  of  the  slave  power  had  intensified 

his  hatred.     The  time  had  come  when  he,  and 

123 


124  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

such  as  he,  felt  that  other  party  questions  were  of 
minor  importance,  and  that  everything  else  should 
for  the  time  be  subordinated  to  the  supreme 
question  of  slavery. 

There  were  certain  reasons  why  the  whig  party 
could  not  accomplish  the  desired  end.  Its  history 
had  identified  it  with  a  different  class  of  subjects. 
Though  Clay  himself  and  a  majority  of  his  party 
were  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery,  there 
were  still  pro-slavery  men  in  its  ranks  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  prevent  any  real  efficiency  on  the 
slavery  question. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  democratic  party 
was  overwhelmingly  pro-slavery,  there  were  anti- 
slavery  democrats  who,  from  their  numbers, 
ability,  and  character,  were  not  to  be  overlooked. 
The  election  to  the  senate  of  Lyman  Trumbull  as 
an  anti -Douglas  democrat  had  crystalized  this 
wing  of  the  party.  The  fiasco  of  Lincoln's  defeat 
when  the  whigs  were  in  a  good  plurality  caused 
much  discontent  in  that  party.  If  the  anti-sla- 
very men  were  to  be  united  for  efficiency  in  op- 
posing Douglas,  it  must  be  under  another  organ- 
ization— a  new  party  must  be  formed. 

In  this  the  newspapers  took  the  initiative.  A 
number  of  papers  editorially  called  for  a  conven- 
tion, which  was  really  a  mass  meeting,  for  there 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.     125 

were  uo  accredited  delegates,  and  could  be  none. 
This  met  in  Decatur  on  Washington's  birthday, 
1856.  It  was  a  motley  assembly,  from  a  political 
standpoint.  It  included  whigs,  democrats,  free- 
soilers,  abolitionists,  and  know-nothings.  Said 
Lincoln:  ''Of  strange,  discordant,  even  hostile 
elements,  we  gathered  from  the  four  winds." 
Politicians  were  conspicuously  absent,  for  it 
would  imperil  their  political  orthodoxy  to  be  seen 
there.  Lincoln  was  the  principal  one  who  had 
anything  to  lose.  He  was  consulted  on  all  meas- 
ures, and  gave  freely  of  his  counsel.  The  pro- 
ceedings ended  with  a  dinner,  at  which  he  made 
a  speech. 

He  was  the  most  prominent  man  in  the  new 
movement,  was  popular  throughout  the  state,  and 
was  the  logical  candidate  for  governor.  He  would 
have  been  highly  gratified  with  the  candidacy. 
But  again  he  put  personal  desires  one  side  that 
the  general  good  might  not  be  endangered.  He 
therefore  proposed,  in  his  after-dinner  speech, 
for  nomination  a  democrat  who  had  a  record  of 
earnest  opposition  to  the  slave  power.  Eefusing 
the  use  of  his  own  name,  he  added  :  ' '  But  I  can 
suggest  a  name  that  will  secure  not  only  the  old 
whig  vote,  but  enough  anti-Nebraska  democrats 
to  give  us  the  victory.     That  man  is  Colonel 


126  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

William  H.  Bissell."  Bissell  was  afterwards  reg- 
ularly nominated  and  triumphantly  elected.  The 
meeting  at  Decatur  called  for  a  convention  to  be 
held  at  Bloomington  on  the  29th  of  May. 

About  the  same  thing  had  been  going  on  in 
some  other  free  states.  On  the  very  day  of  the 
Decatur  meeting  there  was  a  notable  meeting  for 
the  same  purpose  in  Pittsburg.  This  was  at- 
tended by  E.  D.  Morgan,  governor  of  New  York, 
Horace  Greeley,  0.  P.  Morton,  Zach.  Chandler, 
Joshua  R.  Giddings,  and  other  prominent  men. 
They  issued  the  call  for  the  first  national  conven- 
tion of  the  republican  party  to  be  held  in  Phila- 
delphia in  June. 

In  May  the  Illinois  convention  assembled  in 
Bloomington,  and  the  most  conspicuous  person 
there  was  Lincoln.  It  was  there  that  he  made 
the  amazing  speech  already  described.  It  was 
the  speech  which  held  even  the  reporters  in  such 
a  spell  that  they  could  not  report  it.  It  is  known 
in  history  as  the  "  lost  speech,"  but  the  fame  of 
it  endures  to  this  day. 

The  democratic  convention  met  in  Cincinnati 
early  in  June  and  nominated  James  Buchanan  to 
succeed  Franklin  Pierce.  Thus  Douglas  was 
for  a  second  time  defeated  for  the  nomination. 

The  republican  convention  met  a  few  days  later 


/ 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.     197 

in  Philadelphia.  At  that  time  John  C.  Fremont 
was  at  the  height  of  his  fame.  His  character 
was  romantic,  and  the  record  of  his  adventures 
was  as  fascinating  as  a  novel  by  Dumas.  He 
had  earned  the  name  of  "  pathfinder  "  by  cross- 
ing the  continent.  Although  unauthorized,  he 
had  in  California  raised  a  military  company  which 
was  of  material  assistance  to  the  naval  forces  of 
the  United  States  against  a  Mexican  insurrec- 
tion. He  was  an  ardent  hater  of  slavery.  He 
was  precisely  the  man,  as  standard-bearer,  to  in- 
fuse enthusiasm  into  the  new  party  and  to  give 
it  a  good  start  in  its  career.  He  did  this  and  did 
it  well.  The  large  vote  which  he  polled  augured 
well  for  the  future. 

All  this  we  may  claim  without  denying  the 
fact  that  it  was  fortunate  for  the  party  and  for 
the  country  that  he  was  not  elected.  There  was 
no  doubt  of  his  sincerity  or  his  patriotism.  But 
he  lacked  self-control,  wariness,  patience.  He 
was  hot-headed,  extreme,  egotistical.  He  never 
could  have  carried  the  burdens  of  the  first  ad- 
-ninistration  of  the  republican  party. 

When  the  election  was  over,  it  was  found  that 
Buchanan  had  carried  every  slave  state  except 
Maryland,  which  went  to  Fillmore.  Fremont 
had  carried  every  New  England  state  and  five 


128  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

other  northern  states.  Buchanan  received  1Y4 
electoral  votes  ;  Fremont,  114  ;  Fillmore,  8.  The 
popular  vote  was,  for  Buchanan,  1,838,169  ;  for 
Fremont,  1,341,264  ;  for  Fillmore,  874,534.  That 
was  an  excellent  showing  for  the  new  party.  It 
showed  that  it  hadcome  to  stay,  and  gave  a  reason- 
able hope  of  victory  at  the  next  presidential  elec- 
tion. 

Lincoln  was  at  the  head  of  the  electoral  ticket 
of  the  state  of  Illinois.  He  usually  was  on  the 
ticket.  He  playfully  called  himself  one  of  the 
electors  that  seldom  elected  anybody.  In  Illinois 
the  honors  of  the  election  were  evenly  divided 
between  the  two  parties.  Buchanan  carried  the 
state  by  a  handsome  majority,  but  Bissell  was 
elected  governor  by  a  good  majority.  Lincoln 
had  faithfully  canvassed  the  state  and  made 
nearly  fifty  speeches.  One  paragraph  from  a 
speech  made  in  Galena  should  be  quoted.  The 
slave  party  had  raised  the  cry  of  sectionalism, 
and  had  charged  that  the  republicans  purposed 
to  destroy  the  Union.  Lincoln  said  : 
^'  ''  But  the  Union,  in  any  event,  will  not  be  dis- 
solved. We  don't  want  to  dissolve  it,  and  if  you 
attempt  it  we  won't  let  you.  With  the  purse 
and  sword,  the  army,  the  navy,  and  the  treasury 
in  our  hands  and  at  our  command,  you  could  not 


THE  BIRTH  OF  THE  REPUBLICAN  PARTY.     129 

do  it.  This  government  would  be  very  weak  in- 
deed if  a  majority  with  a  disciphned  army  and 
navy  and  a  well-filled  treasury  could  not  preserve 
itself,  when  attacked  by  an  unarmed,  undisci- 
plined minority.  All  this  talk  about  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  Union  is  humbug,  nothing  but  folly. 
We  do  not  want  to  dissolve  the  Union  ;  you  shall 
not."^^ 

These  words  were  prophetic  of  the  condition  of 
the  country  and  of  his  own  policy  four  or  five 
years  later.  But  he  apparently  did  not  appre- 
hend that  an  unscrupulous  administration  might 
steal  the  army  and  the  munitions  of  war,  scatter 
the  navy,  and  empty  the  treasury. 

On  the  10th  of  December  Lincoln  spoke  at  a 
republican  banquet  in  Chicago.  It  was  after  the 
election,  after  Buchanan's  supercilious  message 
to  congress.  The  purpose  of  the  speech  was  to 
forecast  the  future  of  the  young  party.  The  fol- 
lowing quotations  may  be  read  with  interest  : 

"  He  [Buchanan,  in  his  message  to  congress] 
says  the  people  did  it.  He  forgets  that  the  '  peo- 
ple,' as  he  complacently  calls  only  those  who 
voted  for  Buchanan,  are  in  a  minority  of  the 
whole  people  by  about  four  hundred  thousand 
votes.  .  .  .  All  of  us  who  did  not  vote  for  Mr. 
Buchanan,  taken  together,  are  a  majority  of  four 


130  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

hundred  thousand.  But  in  the  late  contest  we 
were  divided  between  Fremont  and  Fillmore. 
Can  we  not  come  together  for  the  future  ?  Let 
every  one  who  really  believes,  and  is  resolved, 
that  free  society  is  not  and  shall  not  be  a  failure, 
and  who  can  conscientiously  declare  that  in  the 
past  contest  he  has  done  only  what  he  thought 
best,  let  every  such  one  have  charity  to  believe 
that  every  other  one  can  say  as  much.  Let  by- 
gones be  bygones  ;  let  past  differences  as  noth- 
ing be  ;  and  with  steady  eye  on  the  real  issue,  let 
us  reinaugurate  the  good  old  'central  ideas' 
of  the  republic.  We  can  do  it.  The  human  heart 
is  with  us  ;  God  is  with  us.  We  shall  again  be 
able  to  declare,  not  that  '  all  states  as  states  are 
equal,'  nor  yet  that  'all  citizens  as  citizens  are 
equal,'  but  to  renew  the  broader,  better  declara- 
tion, including  these  and  much  more,  that  'all 
men  are  created  equal.'  "  ,/ 

It  was  upon  the  wisdom  of  this  plan  that,  four 
years  later,  he  held  the  foes  of  slavery  united, 
while  the  foes  of  freedom  were  divided  among 
themselves.  It  was  this  that  carried  the  party 
to  its  first  victory  and  made  him  president. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS. 

The  admiring  friends  of  Douglas  had  given 
him  the  nickname  of  "  the  little  giant."  To  this 
he  was  fairly  entitled.  Physically  he  was  very 
little.  Intellectually  he  was  a  giant.  He  was  in 
1858  perhaps  the  most  prominent  man  in  the 
United  States.  He  was  the  unquestioned  leader 
of  the  dominant  party.  He  had  been  so  long  in 
public  life  that  he  was  familiar  with  every  public 
question,  while  upon  the  burning  question  of 
slavery  he  was  the  leader. 

Lincoln  was  a  giant  physically,  and  it  soon  be- 
came evident  that  he  was  no  less  intellectually. 
These  two  men  soon  were  to  come  together  in  a 
series  of  joint  debates.  It  was  manifest  that  this 
would  be  a  battle  of  intellectual  giants.  No  other 
such  debates  have  ever  occurred  in  the  history  of 
the  country. 

Events  led  up  to  this  rapidly  and  with  the  cer- 
tainty of  fate.  In  1854  Lincoln  had  been  candi- 
date for  the  senate  to  succeed  Shields,  but  his 

131 


132  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

party  had  been  outwitted  and  he  was  compelled 
to  substitute  Trumbull.  In  1856  he  was  the 
logical  candidate  for  governor,  but  he  was  of 
opinion  that  the  cause  would  be  better  served  per- 
manently by  placing  an  anti-slavery  democrat  in 
nomination.  This  was  done  and  Bissell  was 
elected.  Now  in  1858  the  senatorial  term  of 
Douglas  was  about  to  expire  and  a  successor 
would  be  chosen.  Douglas  was  the  candidate  of 
his  own  party.  The  republicans  turned  naturally 
and  spontaneously  to  Lincoln,  for  it  would  be  no 
light  task  to  defeat  so  strong  an  opponent. 

The  republican  convention  met  in  Springfield 
on  the  16th  of  June.  Lincoln  was  by  acclamation 
nominated  ''as  the  first  and  only  choice"  of  the 
republican  party  for  United  States  senator.  The 
above  time-honored  phrase  was  used  sincerely 
on  that  occasion.  There  was  great  enthusiasm, 
absolute  unanimity. 

On  the  evening  of  the  following  day  he  ad- 
dressed the  convention  in  a  speech  which  has 
become  historic.  His  opening  words  were  : 
1 1  "  If  we  could  first  know  where  we  are  and 
whither  we  are  tending,  we  could  better  judge 
what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  "We  are  now  far 
into  the  fifth  year  since  a  policy  was  Initiated, 
with  the  avowed  object  and  confident  promise  of 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS.  133 

putting  an  end  to  the  slavery  agitation.  Under 
the  operation  of  that  policy,  that  agitation  has 
not  only  not  ceased,  but  has  constantly  aug- 
mented. In  my  opinion  it  will  not  cease  until  a 
crisis  shall  have  been  reached  and  passed.  'A 
house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  I  be- 
lieve this  government  cannot  endure  permanently 
half  slave  and  half  free.  I  do  not  expect  the 
Union  to  be  dissolved— I  do  not  expect  the  house 
to  fall— but  I  do  expect  it  will  cease  to  be  divided. 
It  will  become  all  one  thing  or  all  the  other. 
Either  the  opponents  of  slavery  will  arrest  the 
further  spread  of  it,  and  place  it  where  the  public 
mind  shall  rest  in  the  belief  that  it  is  in  the  course 
of  ultimate  extinction  ;  or  its  advocates  will  push 
it  forward  till  it  shall  become  alike  lawful  in  all 
the  states,  old  as  well  as  new,  North  as  well  as 
South." 

This  speech  came  quickly  to  be  known  as  "  the 
house-divided-against-itself  speech."  By  that 
name  it  is  still  known.  Concluding  he  said  : 
"  Our  cause,  then,  must  be  entrusted  to  and  con- 
ducted by  its  own  undoubted  friends,  those  whose 
hands  are  free,  whose  hearts  are  in  the  work, 
who  do  care  for  the  result.  .  .  .  The  result  is  not 
doubtful.  We  shall  not  fail.  If  we  stand  firm 
we  shall  not  fail.     Wise  counsels  may  accelerate 


134  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

or  mistakes  delay  it,  but  sooner  or  later  the  vic- 
tory is  sure  to  come." 

This  was  a  strong  speech,  delivered  before  an 
audience  of  men  of  unusual  ability,  delegates 
who  represented  all  parts  of  the  state.  It  was  in 
no  wise  a  harangue.  It  was  entirely  thoughtful 
and  strictly  logical.  The  effect  of  it  was  to  intens- 
ify the  enthusiasm,  and  to  spread  it  all  through 
the  state.  It  was  a  speech  that  Douglas  could 
not  ignore,  though  he  might  misrepresent  it. 
This  he  did  by  raising  the  charge  of  sectionalism 
against  his  adversary. 

About  three  weeks  later,  on  the  9th  of  July, 
Douglas  made  an  elaborate  speech  in  Chicago. 
Lincoln  was  in  the  audience.  It  was  unofficially 
arranged  that  he  should  reply.  He  did  so  the 
following  evening.  A  week  later  a  similar  thing 
occurred  in  Springfield.  Douglas  made  a  speech 
in  the  afternoon  to  which  Lincoln  replied  in  the 
evening.  Shortly  after  this  Lincoln  wrote  Doug- 
las a  letter  proposing  a  series  of  joint  discussions, 
or  challenging  him  to  a  series  of  joint  debates. 
Douglas  replied  in  a  patronizing  and  irritating 
tone,  asked  for  a  slight  advantage  in  his  own 
favor,  but  he  accepted  the  proposal.  He  did  not 
do  it  in  a  very  gracious  manner,  but  he  did  it. 
They  arranged  for  seven  discussions  in  towns,  the 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS.  135 

locations  being  scattered  fairly  over  the  entire 
territory  of  the  state. 

If  Illinois  had  before  been  "the  cynosure  of 
neighboring  eyes,"  much  more  was  it  so  now. 
Lincoln  was  by  no  means  the  most  prominent 
anti-slavery  man,  but  he  was  the  only  man  in  a 
position  to  beard  his  rival.  The  proposed  debates 
excited  not  only  the  interest  of  the  state  and  the 
neighboring  states,  but  from  the  East  and  the 
South  all  minds  were  turned  to  this  tournament. 
It  was  not  a  local  discussion  ;  it  was  a  national 
and  critical  question  that  was  at  issue.  The  in- 
terest was  no  less  eager  in  New  York,  Washing- 
ton, and  Charleston  than  in  Indianapolis,  Milwau- 
kee, and  St.  Louis. 

The  two  men  had  been  neighbors  for  many  years. 
They  were  together  members  of  the  legislature, 
first  in  Vandalia  and  then  in  Springfield.  They 
had  frequently  met  socially  in  Springfield.  Both 
paid  marked  attentions  to  the  same  young  lady. 
Both  had  served  in  Washington  City.  Douglas 
was  for  most  of  his  life  an  officeholder,  so  that  in 
one  way  or  another  Lincoln  would  be  brought  into 
association  with  him.  But  though  they  met  so 
frequently  it  is  not  probable  that,  before  this  time, 
either  recognized  in  the  other  his  supreme  antag- 
onist.    After  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compro- 


136  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

raise,  Lincoln  had,  as  already  related,  discussed 
Douglas  with  great  plainness  of  speech.  This 
had  been  twice  repeated  in  this  year.  But  these 
were,  comparatively  speaking,  mere  incidents. 
The  great  contest  was  to  be  in  the  debates. 

In  the  outset,  Douglas  had  the  advantage  of 
prestige.  Nothing  succeeds  like  success.  Doug- 
las had  all  his  life  had  nothing  but  success. 
He  twice  had  missed  the  nomination  for  presi- 
dency, but  he  was  still  the  most  formidable  man 
in  the  senate.  He  was  very  popular  in  his 
own  state.  He  was  everywhere  greeted  by  large 
crowds,  with  bands  of  music  and  other  demon- 
strations. He  always  traveled  in  a  special  car 
and  often  in  a  special  train,  which  was  freely 
placed  at  his  disposal  by  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
way. Lincoln  traveled  by  accommodation  train, 
freight  train,  or  wagon,  as  best  he  could.  As 
both  the  men  were  every-day  speaking  independ- 
ently between  the  debates,  this  question  of  trans- 
portation was  serious.  The  inconveniences  of 
travel  made  a  great  drain  upon  the  nervous  force 
and  the  health.  One  day  when  the  freight  train 
bearing  Lincoln  was  side-tracked  to  let  his  rival's 
special  train  roll  by,  he  good-humoredly  remarked 
that  Douglas  "did  not  smell  any  royalty  in  this 
car." 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS.  137 

Another  fact  which  gave  Douglas  the  advantage 
was  the  friendship  and  sympathy  of  Horace 
Greeley  and  others,  who  had  much  influence  with 
the  party  of  Lincoln.  Douglas  had  broken  with 
Buchanan's  administration  on  a  question  relating 
to  Kansas.  The  iniquity  of  the  powers  at  Wash- 
ington went  so  far  that  even  Douglas  rebelled. 
This  led  Greeley  and  others  to  think  that  Douglas 
had  in  him  the  making  of  a  good  republican  if 
he  was  only  treated  with  sufficient  consideration. 
Accordingly,  all  of  that  influence  was  bitterly 
thrown  in  opposition  to  Lincoln. 

The  methods  of  the  two  men  were  as  diverse  as 
their  bodily  appearance.  Douglas  was  a  master 
of  what  the  ancient  Greeks  would  have  called 
"making  the  worse  appear  the  better  reason." 
He  was  able  to  mis-state  his  antagonist's  position 
so  shrewdly  as  to  deceive  the  very  elect.  And  with 
equal  skill  he  could  escape  from  the  real  mean- 
ing of  his  own  statements.  Lincoln's  characteri- 
zation is  apt  :  "  Judge  Douglas  is  playing  cuttle- 
fish— a  small  species  of  fish  that  has  no  mode  of 
defending  himself  when  pursued  except  by  throw- 
ing out  a  black  fluid  which  makes  the  water  so 
dark  the  enemy  cannot  see  it,  and  thus  it 
escapes." 

Lincoln's  method  was  to  hold  the  discussion 


138  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

down  to  the  point  at  issue  with  clear  and  forcible 
statement.  He  arraigned  the  iniquity  of  slavery 
as  an  offense  against  God.  He  made  the  phrase 
"  all  men "  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
include  the  black  as  well  as  the  white.  Said  he  : 
"  There  is  no  reason  in  the  world  why  the  negro 
is  not  entitled  to  all  the  natural  rights  enumerated 
in  the  Declaration  of  Independence — the  right  to 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  hai^piness.  ...  In 
the  right  to  eat  the  bread,  without  the  leave  of 
anybody  else,  which  his  own  hand  earns,  he  is 
my  equal,  and  the  equal  of  Judge  Douglas,  and 
the  equal  of  every  living  man."  He  quoted 
Jefferson's  remark,  "I  tremble  for  my  country 
when  I  remember  that  God  is  just."  Mercilessly 
he  analyzed  Douglas's  speeches  and  exposed  his 
sophistry. 

The  forensic  ability  of  the  two  men  is  sug- 
gestively indicated  by  the  remark  of  a  lady  who 
heard  them  speak,  and  afterward  said:  "lean 
recall  only  one  fact  of  the  debates,  that  I  felt  so 
sorry  for  Lincoln  while  Douglas  was  speaking, 
and  then  so  sorry  for  Douglas  while  Lincoln  was 
speaking." 

These  debates  occupied  seven  different  evenings 
of  three  hours  each.  The  speeches  were  after- 
wards published  in  book  form  and  had  a  wide 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS.  139 

circulation.  These  speeches,  numbering  twenty- 
one  in  all,  filled  a  large  volume.  It  is  not  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  to  give  an  outline  of  the 
debates,  it  is  only  to  give  a  general  idea  of  their 
result.  But  out  of  them  came  one  prominent  fact, 
which  so  influenced  the  careers  of  the  two  men 
that  it  must  be  briefly  recorded.  This  went  by 
the  name  of  "  the  Freeport  doctrine." 

In  the  flrst  debate  Douglas  had  asked  Lincoln 
a  series  of  questions.  The  villainy  of  these 
questions  was  in  the  innuendo.  They  began, 
"  I  desire  to  know  whether  Lincoln  stands  to-day, 
as  he  did  in  1854,  in  favor  of,"  etc.  Douglas  then 
quoted  from  the  platform  of  a  convention  which 
Lincoln  had  not  attended,  and  with  which  he  had 
nothing  to  do.  Lincoln  denied  these  insinuations, 
and  said  that  he  had  never  favored  those  doc- 
trines ;  but  the  trick  succeeded,  and  the  impression 
was  made  that  Douglas  had  cornered  him.  The 
questions,  to  all  intents  and  purposes,  were  a 
forgery.  This  forgery  was  quickly  exposed  by  a 
Chicago  paper,  and  the  result  was  not  helpful  to 
Douglas.  It  was  made  manifest  that  he  was  not 
conducting  the  debates  in  a  fair  and  manly  way. 

Further  than  this,  the  fact  that  these  questions 
had  been  asked  gave  Lincoln,  in  turn,  the  right 
to  ask  questions  of  Douglas.     This  right  he  used. 


140  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

For  the  next  debate,  which  was  to  be  at  Freeport, 
he  prepared,  among  others,  the  following  ques- 
tion :  "  Can  the  people  of  a  United  States  terri- 
tory, in  any  lawful  way,  against  the  wish  of 
any  citizen  of  the  United  States,  exclude  slavery 
from  its  limits  prior  to  the  formation  of  a  state 
constitution?"  If  this  were  answered  "No,"  it 
would  alienate  the  citizens  of  Illinois.  If  it  were 
answered  "Yes,"  it  would  alienate  the  demo- 
crats of  the  South. 

On  the  way  to  Freeport  he  met  a  number  of 
friends  and  took  counsel  of  them.  When  he 
read  question  number  two,  the  one  above  quoted, 
his  friends  earnestly  and  unanimously  advised 
him  not  to  put  that  question.  "  If  you  do,"  said 
they,  ' '  you  never  can  be  senator. "  To  which 
Lincoln  replied  :  "  Gentlemen,  I  am  killing  larger 
game.  If  Douglas  answers,  he  can  never  be 
President,  and  the  battle  of  1860  is  worth  a  hun- 
dred of  this." 

It  is  not  probable  that  Lincoln  expected  to  be 
in  1860  the  nominee  of  the  republican  party. 
But  he  did  see  the  danger  of  the  election  of 
Douglas  to  the  presidency.  He  was  willing  to 
surrender  the  senatorial  election  to  save  the 
country  from  a  Douglas  administration.  The 
sacrifice  was  made.     The  prediction  proved  true. 


THE  BATTLE  OF  THE  GIANTS.  141 

Lincoln  lost  the  senatorship,  Douglas  lost  the 
presidency. 

The  popular  verdict,  as  shown  in  the  election, 
was  in  favor  of  Lincoln.  The  republicans  polled 
125,430  votes  ;  the  Douglas  democrats,  121,609, 
and  the  Buchanan  democrats,  5,0Yl.  But  the 
apportionment  of  the  legislative  districts  was 
such  that  Douglas  had  a  majority  on  the  joint 
ballot  of  the  legislature.  He  received  54  votes  to 
46  for  Lincoln.  This  secured  his  reelection  to 
the  senate. 

The  popular  verdict  outside  the  state  of  Illinois 
was  in  favor  of  Lincoln.  The  republican  party 
circulated  the  volume  containing  the  full  report 
of  the  speeches.  It  does  not  appear  that  the 
democrats  did  so.  This  forces  the  conclusion 
that  the  intellectual  and  moral  victory  was  on  the 
side  of  Lincoln. 

There  is  a  pathetic  sequel  to  this.  The  cam- 
paign had  been  very  arduous  on  Lincoln.  Doug- 
las had  made  130  speeches  in  100  days,  not  count- 
ing Sundays.  Lincoln  had  made  probably  about 
the  same  number.  These  were  not  brief  ad- 
dresses from  a  railway  car,  but  fully  elaborated 
speeches.  The  labors  commenced  early  in  July 
and  continued  through  the  heat  of  the  summer. 
With  Lincoln  the  inadequate  means  of  travel 


142  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

added  to  the  draft  upon  his  strength.  At  the 
end  of  all  came  the  triumphant  election  of  his 
rival.  Add  to  this  the  fact  that  the  next  day  he 
received  a  letter  from  the  republican  committee 
saying  that  their  funds  would  not  meet  the  bills, 
and  asking  for  an  additional  contribution.  The 
rest  is  best  told  in  Lincoln's  own  words  : 

"  Yours  of  the  15th  is  just  received.     I  wrote 
you  the  same  day.     As  to  the  pecuniary  matter, 
I  am  willing  to  pay  according  to  my  ability,  but 
I  am  the  poorest  hand  living  to  get  others  to  pay. 
I  have  been  on  expense  so  long  without  earning 
anything  that  I   am   absolutely  without  money 
now  for  even  household  purposes.     Still,  if  3-ou 
can  put  up  $250  for  me  towards  discharging  the 
debt  of  the  committee,  I  will  allow  it  when  you 
and  I  settle    the    private    matter    between   us. 
This,  with  what  I  have  already  paid,  and  with  an 
outstanding  note  of  mine,  will  exceed  my  sub- 
scription of  $500.     This,  too,  is  exclusive  of  my 
ordinary    expenses     during    the   campaign,    all 
which,  being  added  to  my  loss  of  time  and  busi- 
ness, bears  pretty  heavily  on  one  no  better  off  in 
world's  goods  than  I ;  but  as  I  had  the  post  of 
honor,  it  is  not  for  me  to  be  over-nice.    You  are 
feeling  badly— 'And  this,  too,  shall  pass  away.' 
Never  fear." 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

GROWING  AUDACITY  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER. 

So  closely  is  the  life  of  Lincoln  intertwined 
with  the  growth  of  the  slave  power  that  it  will 
be  necessary  at  this  point  to  give  a  brief  space  to 
the  latter.  It  was  the  persistent,  the  ever-in- 
creasing, the  imperious  demands  of  this  power 
that  called  Lincoln  to  his  post  of  duty.  The  feel- 
ing upon  the  subject  had  reached  a  high  degree 
of  tension  at  the  period  we  are  now  considering. 
To  understand  this  fully,  we  must  go  back  and 
come  once  again  down  through  the  period  already 
treated.  There  are  three  salient  points  of  devel- 
opment. 

The  first  of  these  is  the  fugitive  slave  law.  At 
the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  it  was  arranged 
that  there  should  be  no  specific  approval  of  slavery. 
For  this  reason  the  word  "slave"  does  not  ap- 
pear in  that  document.  But  the  idea  is  there, 
and  the  phrase,  "person  held  to  service  or  labor," 
fully  covers  the  subject.  Slaves  were  a  valuable 
property.     The  public  opinion    approved  of  the 


14:4:  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

institution.  To  set  up  one  part  of  the  territory 
as  a  refuge  for  escaped  slaves  would  be  an  in- 
fringement of  this  right  of  property,  and  would 
cause  unceasing  friction  between  the  various 
parts  of  the  country. 

In  1793,  which  happens  to  be  the  year  of  the 
invention  of  the  cotton  gin,  the  fugitive  slave 
law  was  passed.  This  was  for  the  purpose  of 
enacting  measures  by  which  escaped  slaves  might 
be  recaptured.  This  law  continued  in  force  to 
1850.  As  the  years  passed,  the  operation  of  this 
law  produced  results  not  dreamed  of  in  the  out- 
set. There  came  to  be  free  states,  communities 
in  which  the  very  toleration  of  slavery  was  an 
abomination.  The  conscience  of  these  communi- 
ties abhorred  the  institution.  Though  these 
people  were  content  to  leave  slavery  unmolested 
in  the  slave  states,  they  were  angered  at  having 
the  horrors  of  slave-hunting  thrust  upon  them. 
In  other  words,  they  were  unable  to  reside  in  any 
locality,  no  matter  how  stringent  the  laws  were 
in  behalf  of  freedom,  where  they  were  not  liable 
to  be  invaded,  their  very  homes  entered,  by  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  its  most  cruel  forms. 

This  aroused  a  bitter  antagonism  in  the  North. 
Societies  were  formed  to  assist  fugitive  slaves  to 
escape  to   Canada.      Men    living  at  convenient 


GROWING  AUDACITY  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER.    I45 

distances  along  the  route  were  in  communication 
with  one  another.  The  fugitives  were  passed  se- 
cretly and  with  great  skill  along  this  line.  These 
societies  were  known  as  the  Underground  Eail- 
way.  The  appropriateness  of  this  name  is  obvi- 
ous. The  men  themselves  who  secreted  the  fugi- 
tive slaves  were  said  to  keep  stations  on  that 
railway. 

This  organized  endeavor  to  assist  the  fugitives 
was  met  by  an  increased  imperiousness  on  the 
part  of  the  slave  power.  Slavery  is  imperious  in 
its  nature.  It  almost  inevitably  cultivates  that 
disposition  in  those  who  wield  the  power.  So 
that  the  case  was  rendered  more  exasperating  by 
the  passage,  in  1850,  of  another  fugitive  slave 
law.  Nothing  could  have  been  devised  more 
surely  adapted  to  inflame  the  moral  sense  of 
those  communities  that  were,  in  feeling  or  con- 
science, opposed  to  slavery,  than  this  law  of  1850. 
This  was  a  reenactment  of  the  law  of  1793,  but 
with  more  stringent  and  cruel  regulations.  The 
concealment  or  assisting  of  a  fugitive  was  highly 
penal.  Any  home  might  be  invaded  and  searched. 
No  hearth  was  safe  from  intrusion.  The  negro 
could  not  testify  in  his  own  behalf.  It  was  prac- 
tically impossible  to  counteract  the  oath  or  affi- 
davit of  the  pretended  master,  and  a  premium 
10 


146  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  practically  put  upon  perjury.  The  pursuit 
of  slaves  became  a  regular  business,  and  its  oper- 
ation was  often  indescribably  horrible.  These 
cruelties  were  emphasized  chiefly  in  the  presence 
of  those  who  were  known  to  be  averse  to  slavery 
in  any  form,  and  they  could  not  escape  from  the 
revolting  scenes. 

The  culmination  of  this  was  in  what  is  known 
as  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  Dred  Scott  was  a 
slave  in  Missouri.  He  was  by  his  master  taken 
to  Fort  Snelling,  now  in  the  state  of  Minnesota, 
then  in  the  territory  of  Wisconsin.  This  was 
free  soil,  and  the  slave  was,  at  least  while  there, 
free.  With  the  consent  of  his  former  master  he 
married  a  free  woman  who  had  formerly  been  a 
slave.  Two  children  were  born  to  them.  The 
master  returned  to  Missouri,  bringing  the  negroes. 
He  here  claimed  that  they,  being  on  slave  soil, 
were  restored  to  the  condition  of  slavery. 

Scott  sued  for  his  freedom  and  won  his  case. 
It  was,  however,  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States.  The  first  opinion  of  the 
court  was  written  by  Judge  Nelson.  This 
treated  of  this  specific  case  only.  Had  this  opin- 
ion issued  as  the  finding  of  the  court,  it  would 
not  have  aroused  general  attention. 

But  the  court  was  then  dominated  by  the  slave 


GROWING  AUDACITY  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER.    147 

sentiment,  and  the  opportunity  of  laying  down 
general  principles  on  the  subject  of  slavery  could 
not  be  resisted.  The  decision  was  written  by 
Chief  Justice  Taney,  and  reaches  its  climax  in 
the  declaration  that  the  negro  "  had  no  rights 
which  the  white  man  was  bound  to  respect." 
Professor  T.  W.  Dwight  says  that  much  injustice 
was  done  to  Chief  Justice  Taney  by  the  erroneous 
statement  that  he  had  himself  affirmed  that  the 
negro  "  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was 
bound  to  respect."  But  while  this  may  be  satis- 
factory to  the  legal  mind,  to  the  lay  mind,  to  the 
average  citizen,  it  is  a  distinction  without  a  dif- 
ference, or,  at  best,  with  a  very  slight  difference. 
The  Judge  was  giving  what,  in  his  opinion,  was 
the  law  of  the  land.  It  was  his  opinion,  nay,  it 
was  his  decision.  Nor  was  it  the  unanimous  rul- 
ing of  the  court.     Two  justices  dissented. 

The  words  quoted  are  picturesque,  and  are  well 
suited  to  a  battle-cry.  On  every  side,  with 
ominous  emphasis  in  the  North,  one  heard  that 
the  negro  had  no  rights  which  the  white  man  was 
bound  to  respect.  This  was,  until  1860,  the  last 
and  greatest  exhibition  of  audacity  on  the  part  of 
the  slave  power. 

There  was  another  exhibition  of  the  spirit  of 
slavery  which  deserves  special  mention.     This  is 


148  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  history  of  the  settlement  of  Kansas.  That 
remarkable  episode,  lasting  from  1854  to  1861,  re- 
quires a  volume,  not  a  paragraph,  for  its  narra- 
tion. It  is  almost  impossible  for  the  imagination 
of  those  who  live  in  an  orderly,  law-abiding  com- 
munity, to  conceive  that  such  a  condition  of  af- 
fairs ever  existed  in  any  portion  of  the  United 
States.  The  story  of  "bleeding  Kansas"  will 
long  remain  an  example  of  the  proverb  that 
truth  is  stranger  than  fiction. 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  in  1854, 
opened  up  to  this  free  territory  the  possibility  of 
coming  into  the  Union  as  a  slave  state.  It  was 
to  be  left  to  the  actual  settlers  to  decide  this  ques- 
tion. This  principle  was  condensed  into  the 
phrase  "squatter  sovereignty."  The  only  re- 
source left  to  those  who  wished  Kansas  to  come 
in  as  a  free  state  was  to  settle  it  with  an  anti- 
slavery  population. 

With  this  purpose  in  view,  societies  were  formed 
in  anti-slavery  communities,  extending  as  far 
east  as  the  Atlantic  coast,  to  assist  emigrants. 
From  Iowa,  Illinois,  Ohio,  Massachusetts,  and 
elsewhere,  emigrants  poured  into  Kansas.  But 
the  slave  party  had  the  advantage  of  geograph- 
ical location.  The  slave  state  of  Missouri  was 
only  just  across  the  river.     It  was  able,  at  short 


GROWING  AUDACITY  OF  THE  SLAVE  POWER.    I49 

notice  and  with  little  expense,  to  pour  out  its  pop- 
ulation in  large  numbers.  This  it  did.  Many 
went  from  Missouri  as  actual  settlers.  By  far 
the  larger  part  went  only  temporarily  and  for  the 
purpose  of  creating  a  disturbance.  These  were 
popularly  called  '^  border  ruffians."  Their  ex- 
cesses of  ruffianism  are  not  easily  described. 
They  went  into  the  territory  for  the  purpose  of 
driving  out  all  the  settlers  who  had  come  in 
under  the  emigrant  aid  societies.  Murder  was 
common.  At  the  elections,  they  practised  intim- 
idation and  every  form  of  election  fraud  then 
known.  Every  election  was  contested,  and  both 
parties  always  claimed  the  victory.  The  parties 
elected  two  separate  legislatures,  adopted  two 
constitutions,  established  two  capitals.  For 
several  years,  civil  war  and  anarchy  prevailed. 

There  is  no  doubt,  either  reasonable  or  unrea- 
sonable,— there  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  the 
anti-slavery  men  had  a  vast  majority  of  actual 
settlers.  The  territorial  governors  were  appointed 
by  Presidents  Pierce  and  Buchanan.  These  were 
uniformly  pro-slavery  and  extremely  partisan. 
But  every  governor  quickly  came  to  side  with  the 
free-state  men,  or  else  resigned  to  get  out  of  the 
way. 

The  pro-slavery  men,  after  the  farce  of  a  pre- 


150  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tended  vote,  declared  the  Lecompton  constitution 
adopted.  The  governor  at  that  time  was  Walker, 
of  Mississippi,  who  had  been  appointed  as  a  sure 
friend  of  the  interests  of  slavery.  But  even  he 
revolted  at  so  gross  an  outrage,  and  made  a  per- 
sonal visit  to  Washington  to  protest  against  it. 
It  was  at  this  point,  too,  that  Senator  Douglas 
broke  with  the  administration. 

In  spite  of  the  overwhelming  majority  of  anti- 
slavery  settlers  in  the  state,  Kansas  was  not  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union  until  after  the  inauguration 
of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

So  unscrupulous,  imperious,  grasping  was  the 
slave  power.  Whom  the  gods  wish  to  destroy, 
they  first  make  mad.  The  slave  power  had 
reached  the  reckless  point  of  madness  and  was 
rushing  to  its  own  destruction.  These  three 
manifestations, — the  fugitive-slave  law,  the  Dred 
Scott  decision,  and  the  anarchy  in  Kansas, — 
though  they  were  revolting  in  the  extreme  and 
indescribably  painful,  hastened  the  end. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  BACKWOODSMAN  AT  THE  CENTER  OF 
EASTERN  CULTURE. 

Lincoln's  modesty  made  it  impossible  for  him 
to  be  ambitious.  He  appreciated  honors,  and  he 
desired  them  up  to  a  certain  point.  But  they  did 
not,  in  his  way  of  looking  at  them,  seem  to  be- 
long to  him.  He  was  slow  to  realize  that  he  was 
of  more  than  ordinary  importance  to  the  com- 
munity. 

At  the  first  republican  convention  in  1856, 
when  Fremont  was  nominated  for  President,  111 
votes  were  cast  for  Lincoln  as  the  nominee  for 
vice-president.  The  fact  was  published  in  the 
papers.  When  he  saw  the  item  it  did  not  enter 
his  head  that  he  was  the  man.  He  said  "  there 
was  a  celebrated  man  of  that  name  in  Massachu- 
setts ;  doubtless  it  was  he." 

In  1858,  when  he  asked  Douglas  the  fatal  ques- 
tin  at  Freeport,  he  was  simply  killing  off  Doug- 
las's aspirations  for  the  presidency.  It  was  with 
no  thought  of  being  himself  the  successful  rival. 

Douglas  had  twice  been  a  candidate  for  nomina- 

151 


152  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tion  before  the  democratic  convention.  Had  it 
not  been  for  this  question  he  would  have  been 
elected  at  the  next  following  presidential  elec- 
tion. 

As  late  as  the  early  part  of  1860,  Lincoln 
vaguely  desired  the  nomination  for  the  vice- 
presidency.  He  would  have  been  glad  to  be  the 
running-mate  of  Seward,  nothing  more.  Even 
this  honor  he  thought  to  be  beyond  his  reach,  so 
slowly  did  he  come  to  realize  the  growth  of  his 
fame. 

The  reports  of  the  Lincoln- Douglas  debates  had 
produced  a  profound  sensation  in  the  West.  They 
were  printed  in  large  numbers  and  scattered 
broadcast  as  campaign  literature.  Some  Eastern 
men,  also,  had  been  alert  to  observe  these  events. 
William  Cullen  Bryant,  the  scholarly  editor  of 
the  New  York  Evening  Post,  had  shown  keen 
interest  in  the  debates. 

Even  after  the  election  Lincoln  did  not  cease 
the  vigor  of  his  criticisms.  It  will  be  remem- 
bered that  before  the  formal  debate  Lincoln  vol- 
untarily went  to  Chicago  to  hear  Douglas  and  to 
answer  him.  He  followed  him  to  Springfield  and 
did  the  same  thing.  He  now,  after  the  election 
of  1858,  followed  him  to  Ohio  and  answered  his 
speeches  in  Columbus  and  Cincinnati. 


THE  BACKWOODSMAN.  I53 

The  Reverend  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  who  was 
always  watchful  of  the  development  of  the  anti- 
slavery  sentiment,  now  invited  Lincoln  to  lecture 
in  Plymouth  Church,  Brooklyn.  The  invitation 
was  accepted  with  the  provision  that  the  lecture 
might  be  a  political  speech. 

J.  G.  Holland,  who  doubtless  knew  whereof  he 
wrote,  declares  that  it  was  a  great  misfortune 
that  Lincoln  was  introduced  to  the  country  as 
a  rail-splitter.  Americans  have  no  prejudice 
against  humble  beginnings,  they  are  proud  of 
self-made  men,  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  ability 
to  split  rails  which  necessarily  qualifies  one  for 
the  demands  of  statesmanship.  Some  of  his 
ardent  friends,  far  more  zealous  than  judicious, 
had  expressed  so  much  glory  over  Abe  the  rail- 
splitter,  that  it  left  the  impression  that  he  was 
little  more  than  a  rail-splitter  who  could  talk 
volubly  and  tell  funny  stories.  This  naturally 
alienated  the  finest  culture  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies.  "  It  took  years  for  the  country  to  learn 
that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  a  boor.  It  took  years 
for  them  to  unlearn  what  an  unwise  and  boyish 
introduction  of  a  great  man  to  the  public  had 
taught  them.  It  took  years  for  them  to  com- 
prehend the  fact  that  in  Mr.  Lincoln  the  country 
had  the  wisest,   truest,   gentlest,  noblest,  most 


154  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

sagacious  President  who  had  occupied  the  chair 
of  state  since  Washington  retired  from  it." 

When  he  reached  New  York  he  found  that 
there  had  been  a  change  of  plan,  and  he  was  to 
speak  in  Cooper  Institute,  New  York,  instead  of 
Beecher's  church.  He  took  the  utmost  care  in 
revising  his  speech,  for  he  felt  that  he  was  on 
new  ground  and  must  not  do  less  than  his  best. 

But  though  he  made  the  most  perfect  intellec- 
tual preparation,  the  esthetic  element  of  his  per- 
sonal appearance  was  sadly  neglected.  He  was 
angular  and  loose-jointed, — he  could  not  help 
that.  He  had  provided  himself,  or  had  been  pro- 
vided, with  a  brand-new  suit  of  clothes,  whether 
of  good  material  or  poor  we  cannot  say,  whether 
well-fitting  or  ill-fitting  we  do  not  know,  though 
we  may  easily  guess.  But  we  do  know  that  it 
had  been  crowded  into  a  small  carpet-bag  and 
came  out  a  mass  of  wrinkles.  And  during  the 
speech  the  collar  or  lappel  annoyed  both  speaker 
and  audience  by  persisting  in  rising  up  un- 
bidden. 

These  details  are  mentioned  to  show  the  diflS- 
culty  of  the  task  before  the  orator.  In  the  audi- 
ence and  on  the  platform  were  many  of  the  most 
brilliant  and  scholarly  men  of  the  metropolis. 
There  were  also  large  numbers  who  had  come 


THE  BACKWOODSMAN.  155 

chiefly  to  hear  the  westerner  tell  a  lot  of  funny- 
stories.     The  orator  was  introduced  by  Bryant. 

The  speech  was  strictly  intellectual  from  be- 
ginning to  end.  Though  Lincoln  was  not  known 
in  New  York,  Douglas  was.  So  he  fittingly  took 
his  start  from  a  quotation  of  Douglas.  The 
speech  cannot  be  epitomized,  but  its  general  drift 
may  be  divined  from  its  opening  and  closing  sen- 
tences. 

The  quotation  from  Douglas  was  that  which 
had  been  uttered  at  Columbus  a  few  months  be- 
fore :  "'Our  fathers,  when  they  framed  the  gov- 
ernment under  which  we  live,  understood  this 
question  (the  question  of  slavery)  just  as  well, 
and  even  better,  than  we  do  now."  To  this  propo- 
sition the  orator  assented.  That  raised  the  in- 
quiry, What  was  their  understanding  of  the  ques- 
tion ?  This  was  a  historical  question,  and  could 
be  answered  only  by  honest  and  painstaking 
research. 

Continuing,  the  speaker  said:  "Does  the 
proper  division  of  local  from  Federal  authority, 
or  anything  in  the  Constitution,  forbid  our  Fed- 
eral government  to  control  as  to  slavery  in  our 
Federal  territories  ?  Upon  this  Senator  Douglas 
holds  the  affirmative  and  the  republicans  the 
negative.     This  affirmation  and  denial  form  an 


166  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

issue,  and  this  issue — this  question — is  precisely 
what  the  text  declares  our  fathers  understood 
'better  than  we.' 

''  I  defy  any  one  to  show  that  any  living  man 
in  the  whole  world  ever  did,  prior  to  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century  (and  I  might  almost  say 
prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  last  half  of  the 
present  century),  declare  that  in  his  understand- 
ing any  proper  division  of  local  from  Federal 
authority,  or  any  part  of  the  Constitution,  forbade 
the  Federal  government  to  control  as  to  slavery 
in  the  Federal  territories.  To  those  who  now  so 
declare,  I  give,  not  only  '  our  fathers  who  framed 
the  government  under  which  we  live,'  but  with 
them  all  other  living  men  within  the  century  in 
which  it  was  framed,  among  whom  to  search, 
and  they  shall  not  be  able  to  find  the  evidence  of 
a  single  man  agreeing  with  them." 

One  paragraph  is  quoted  for  the  aptness  of  its 
illustration  :  "But  you  will  not  abide  the  elec- 
tion of  a  republican  President !  In  that  supposed 
event,  you  say,  you  will  destroy  the  Union  ;  and 
then  you  say,  the  great  crime  of  having  destroyed 
it  will  be  upon  us  !  That  is  cool.  A  highway- 
man holds  a  pistol  to  my  ear,  and  mutters  through 
his  teeth,  '  Stand  and  deliver,  or  I  shall  kill  you, 
and  then  you  will  be  a  murderer  ! '    To  be  sure, 


THE  BACKWOODSMAN.  167 

what  the  robber  demanded  of  me — my  money — 
was  my  own,  and  I  had  a  clear  right  to  keep  it ; 
but  it  was  no  more  my  own  than  my  vote  is  my 
own  ;  and  the  threat  of  death  to  me  to  extort  my 
money,  and  the  threat  of  destruction  to  the  Union 
to  extort  my  vote,  can  scarcely  be  distinguished 
in  principle." 

The  speech  reached  its  climax  in  its  closing 
paragraph  :  "  Wrong  as  we  think  slavery  is,  we 
can  yet  afford  to  let  it  alone  where  it  iSj  because 
that  so  much  is  due  to  the  necessity  arising  from 
its  actual  presence  in  the  nation  ;  but  can  we, 
while  our  votes  will  prevent  it,  allow  it  to  spread 
into  the  national  territories,  and  to  overrun  us 
here  in  the  free  states  ?  If  our  sense  of  duty  for- 
bids this,  then  let  us  stand  by  our  duty,  fearlessly 
and  effectively.  Let  us  be  diverted  by  none  of 
those  sophistical  contrivances  wherewith  we  are 
so  industriously  plied  and  belabored — contrivances 
such  as  groping  for  some  middle  ground  between 
the  right  and  the  wrong,  vain  as  the  search  for  a 
man  who  would  be  neither  a  living  man  nor  a 
dead  man  ;  such  as  a  policy  of  '  don't  care  '  on  a 
question  about  which  all  true  men  do  care  ;  such 
as  Union  appeals  to  beseech  all  true  Union  men 
to  yield  to  Disunionists ;  reversing  the  divine 
rule,  and  calling,  not  the  sinners,  but  the  right- 


158  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

eous,  to  repentance  ;  such  as  invocations  to  Wash- 
ington, imploring  men  to  unsay  what  Washington 
said,  and  undo  what  Washington  did. 

"  Neither  let  us  be  slandered  from  our  duty  by 
false  accusations  against  us,  nor  frightened  from 
it  by  menaces  of  destruction  to  the  government, 
nor  of  dungeons  to  ourselves.  Let  us  have  faith 
that  right  makes  might,  and  in  that  faith,  let  us, 
to  the  end,  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we  understand 
it." 

This  speech  placed  Lincoln  in  the  line  of  the 
presidency.  Not  only  was  it  received  with  un- 
bounded enthusiasm  by  the  mass  of  the  people, 
but  it  was  a  revelation  to  the  more  intellectual 
and  cultivated.  Lincoln  afterwards  told  of 
a  professor  of  rhetoric  at  Yale  College  who 
was  present.  He  made  an  abstract  of  the 
speech  and  the  next  day  presented  it  to  the  class 
as  a  model  of  cogency  and  finish.  This  pro- 
fessor followed  Lincoln  to  Meriden  to  hear  him 
again. 

The  Tribune  gave  to  the  speech  unstinted  praise, 
declaring  that  "no  man  ever  before  made  such 
an  impression  on  his  first  appeal  to  a  New  York 
audience." 

The  greatest  compliment,  because  the  most 
deliberate,  was  that  of  the  committee  who  pre- 


THE  BACKWOODSMAN.  159 

pared  the  speech  for  general  distribution.     Their 
preface  is  sufficiently  explicit : 

"No  one  who  has  not  actually  attempted  to 
verify  its  details  can  understand  the  patient 
research  and  historical  labors  which  it  embodies. 
The  history  of  our  earlier  politics  is  scattered 
through  numerous  journals,  statutes,  pamphlets, 
and  letters  ;  and  these  are  defective  in  complete- 
ness and  accuracy  of  statement,  and  in  indices 
and  tables  of  contents.  Neither  can  any  one  who 
has  not  traveled  over  this  precise  ground  ap- 
preciate the  accuracy  of  every  trivial  detail,  or 
the  self-denying  impartiality  with  which  Mr. 
Lincoln  has  turned  from  the  testimony  of  '  the 
fathers '  on  the  general  question  of  slavery,  to 
present  the  single  question  which  he  discusses. 
From  the  first  line  to  the  last,  from  his  premises 
to  his  conclusion,  he  travels  with  a  swift,  unerring 
directness  which  no  logician  ever  excelled,  an 
argument  complete  and  full,  without  the  affecta- 
tion of  learning,  and  without  the  stiffness  which 
usually  accompanies  dates  and  details.  A  single, 
easy,  simple  sentence  of  plain  Anglo-Saxon  words, 
contains  a  chapter  of  history  that,  in  some  in- 
stances, has  taken  days  of  labor  to  verify,  and 
which  must  have  cost  the  author  months  of 
investigation  to  acquire." 


160  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Surely  Mr.  Bryant  and  Mr.  Beecher  and  the 
rest  had  every  reason  for  gratification  that  they 
had  introduced  this  man  of  humble  beginnings  to 
so  brilliant  a  New  York  audience. 

Lincoln  went  to  Exeter,  N.  H.,  to  visit  his  son 
who  was  in  Phillips  Academy  preparing  for 
Harvard  College.  Both  going  and  returning  he 
made  several  speeches,  all  of  which  were  received 
with  more  than  ordinary  favor.  By  the  time  he 
returned  home  he  was  no  longer  an  unknown 
man.  He  was  looked  on  with  marked  favor  in 
all  that  portion  of  the  country  which  lies  north  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  NOMINATION  OP  1860. 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  is  the  republican 
convention  that  nominated  Lincoln  for  the  presi- 
dency. But  for  an  intelligent  narration  of  this, 
it  is  necessary  to  give  a  brief  account  of  at  least 
one  of  the  three  other  important  political  con- 
ventions that  were  held  that  year.  That  one  was 
the  regular  democratic  convention  at  Charleston. 
And  certain  other  facts  also  must  be  narrated. 

Leaven  was  working  in  two  respects.  The  first 
is  that  the  plan  of  secession  and  of  setting  up  a 
Southern  nation  founded  upon  slavery,  was  not  a 
sudden  or  impromptu  thought.  The  evidence  is 
conclusive  that  the  plan  had  been  maturing  for 
years.  Recent  events  had  shown  that  slavery 
had  reached  the  limit  of  its  development  so  far  as 
concerned  the  territory  of  the  United  States.  The 
plan  to  annex  Cuba  as  a  garden  for  the  culture 
of  slavery,  had  failed.  California  had  been  ad- 
mitted as  a  free  state.     Slavery  had  been  excluded 

from  Kansas,  although  that  territory  had  for  two 
II  161 


162  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

years  been  denied  admission  to  the  sisterhood  of 
states. 

As  the  slave  power  was  not  content  with  any 
limitation  whatever,  its  leaders  now  looked  for 
an  opportunity  to  break  up  this  present  govern- 
ment and  start  a  new  one.  At  the  time  (December, 
1860)  South  Carolina  passed  the  ordinance  of 
secession,  to  be  narrated  later,  certain  things 
were  said  which  may  be  quoted  here.  These 
utterances  exposed  the  spirit  that  animated  the 
slave  power  long  before  Lincoln's  election,  long 
before  he  was  even  known  in  politics. 

Parker  said  that  the  movement  of  secession  had 
been  "gradually  culminating  for  a  long  series  of 
years." 

Inglis  endorsed  the  remark  and  added,  *'Most 
of  us  have  had  this  matter  under  consideration 
for  the  last  twenty  years. " 

Keitt  said,  "I  have  been  engaged  in  this  move- 
ment ever  since  I  entered  political  life." 

Ehett  said,  ''The  secession  of  South  Carolina 
was  not  the  event  of  a  day.  It  is  not  anything 
produced  by  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  or  by  the  non- 
execution  of  the  fugitive  slave  law.  It  is  a 
matter  which  has  been  gathering  head  for  thirty 
years.  The  election  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  was 
the  last  straw  on  the  back  of  the  camel.     But  it 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  163 

was  not  the  only  one.  The  back  was  nearly 
broken  before. 

The  other  important  fact  was  the  result  of  Lin- 
coln's Freeport  question.  The  answer  of  Douglas 
was  :  "I  answer  emphatically  .  .  .  that  in  my 
opinion  the  people  of  a  territory  can,  by  lawful 
means,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to 
the  formation  of  a  state  constitution."  This 
answer  satisfied  the  democrats  of  Illinois  and  se- 
cured his  election  to  the  senate,  as  Lincoln  pre- 
dicted that  it  would.  But  it  angered  the  south- 
ern leaders  beyond  all  reason — as  Lincoln  knew 
it  would. 

When,  therefore,  the  democratic  convention 
met  in  Charleston,  the  first  purpose  of  the  south- 
ern leaders  was  to  defeat  Douglas.  In  their 
judgment  he  was  not  orthodox  on  slavery.  He 
was  far  the  strongest  candidate  before  the  con- 
vention, but  he  was  not  strong  enough  to  secure 
the  two-thirds  vote  which  under  the  rules  of  that 
party  were  necessary  to  a  choice.  After  fifty- 
seven  ballots,  and  a  corresponding  amount  of  de- 
bating, the  feeling  of  antagonism  rising,  contin- 
ually higher,  the  crisis  came.  The  southern  del- 
egates withdrew  from  the  convention  and  ap- 
pointed a  convention  of  their  own  to  be  held  in 
Richmond.     This  was  done  with  the  full  knowl- 


164  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

edge  that,  if  it  accomplished  anything,  it  would 
accomplish  the  defeat  of  the  party.  It  was  prob- 
ably done  for  this  very  purpose,— to  defeat  the 
party,— so  as  to  give  an  excuse,  more  or  less 
plausible,  for  carrying  out  the  matured  plan  of 
secession,  claiming  to  be  injured  or  alarmed  at 
the  ascendancy  of  the  republican  party. 

Up  to  this  point,  at  least,  Lincoln  had  no  as- 
pirations for  the  presidency.  But  he  did  aspire  to 
the  United  States  senate.  He  accepted  his  defeat 
by  Douglas  in  1858  as  only  temporary.  He  knew 
there  would  be  another  senatorial  election  in  four 
years.  When  asked  how  he  felt  about  this  defeat, 
he  turned  it  into  a  joke,  and  said  that  he  felt 
''like  the  boy  who  had  stubbed  his  toe,  too  badly 
to  laugh,  and  he  was  too  big  to  cry." 

He  had  thought  of  being  nominated  as  vice- 
president  with  Seward  as  President,  which  would 
have  given  him,  if  elected,  a  place  in  the  senate. 
He  was  glad  of  any  possible  prominence  in  the  Chi- 
cago convention,  which  was  still  in  the  future. 
For  that  would  help  his  senatorial  aspirations 
when  the  time  came.  But  as  to  anything  higher, 
he  declared,  "I  must  in  all  candor  say  that  I  do 
not  think  myself  fit  for  the  presidency."  And  he 
was  an  honest  man.  With  the  senate  still  in 
view,  he  added,  ''  I  am  not  in  a  position  where  it 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  165 

would  hurt  me  much  not  to  be  nominated  [for 
president]  on  the  national  ticket ;  but  I  am  where 
it  would  hurt  some  for  me  not  to  get  the  Illinois 
delegates." 

Thus,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1860,  Lincoln 
was  in  no  sense  in  the  race  for  the  presidential 
nomination.  About  that  time  a  list  of  twenty- 
one  names  of  possible  candidates  was  published 
in  New  York  ;  Lincoln's  name  was  not  on  the  list. 
A  list  of  thirty-five  was  published  in  Philadel- 
phia. Lincoln's  name  was  not  on  that  list. 
After  the  speech  at  Cooper  Institute  the  Evening 
Post  mentioned  Lincoln's  name  along  with  others. 
That  was  the  only  case  in  the  East. 

In  Illinois  his  candidacy  developed  in  February 
and  came  to  a  head  at  the  republican  state  conven- 
tion at  Decatur.  Lincoln's  name  had  been  promi- 
nent in  the  preceding  local  conventions,  and  the  en- 
thusiasm was  growing,     Decatur  was  very  near 

to  the  place  where  Thomas  Lincoln  had  first  set- 
tled when  he  came  into  the  state.  When  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  came  into  this  convention  he  was 
greeted  with  an  outburst  of  enthusiasm.  After 
order  had  been  restored,  the  chairman,  Governor 
Oglesby,  announced  that  an  old-time  Macon 
County  democrat  desired  to  make  a  contribution 
to  the  convention.     The  offer  being  accepted,  a 


166  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

banner  was  borne  up  the  hall  upon  two  old  fence 
rails.  The  whole  was  gaily  decorated  and  the 
inscription  was : 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
THE  RAIL  CANDIDATE 

FOR    PRESIDENT    IN    1860. 

Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  3,000  made  in  1830  by 
Thos.  Hanks  and  Abe  Lincoln — whose 
father  was  the  first  pioneer  of 
Macon  County. 

This  incident  was  the  means  of  enlarging  the 
soubriquet  "Honest  Abe"  to  '*  Honest  Old  Abe, 
the  Kail-splitter."  The  enthusiasm  over  the  rails 
spread  far  and  wide.  That  he  had  split  rails,  and 
that  he  even  had  done  it  well,  was  no  test  of  his 
statesmanship.  But  it  was  a  reminder  of  his 
humble  origin,  and  it  attached  him  to  the  com- 
mon people,  between  wiiom  and  himself  there  had 
always  been  a  warm  feeling  of  mutual  sympathy. 

The  democratic  convention  had,  after  the  bolt 
of  the  extreme  southerners,  adjourned  to  Bal- 
timore, where  they  duly  nominated  Douglas. 
What  any  one  could  have  done  for  the  purpose  of 
restoring  harmony  in  the  party,  he  did.  But  the 
breach  was  too  wide  for  even  that  astute  poli- 
tician to  bridge  over.     Lincoln  grasped  the  situa- 


TEE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  167 

tion.  It  was  what  he  had  planned  two  years  be- 
fore, and  he  confidently  expected  just  this  breach. 
*'  Douglas  never  can  be  President,"  he  had  said. 
He  fully  understood  the  relentless  bitterness  of 
the  slave  power,  and  he  well  knew  that  whatever 
Douglas  might  do  for  the  northern  democrats,  he 
had  lost  all  influence  with  the  southern  branch  of 
that  party.  So  Lincoln  told  his  "little  story" 
and  serenely  awaited  the  result. 

The  second  republican  national  convention  met 
in  Chicago,  May  16,  1860.  A  temporary  wooden 
structure,  called  a  wigwam,  had  been  built  for 
the  purpose.  It  was,  for  those  days,  a  very  large 
building,  and  would  accommodate  about  ten 
thousand  people. 

The  man  who  was,  far  and  away,  the  most 
prominent  candidate  for  the  nomination,  was 
William  H.  Seward,  of  New  York.  He  had  the 
benefit  of  thirty  years  of  experience  in  political 
life.  He  was  a  man  of  wide  learning,  fine  culture, 
unequaled  as  a  diplomatist ;  he  was  a  patriot,  a 
statesman,  and  loyal  to  the  principles  of  the  re- 
publican party.  He  had  a  plurality  of  the  dele- 
gates by  a  wide  margin,  though  not  a  majority. 
It  seemed  a  foregone  conclusion  that  he  would  be 
nominated.  Horace  Greeley,  who  was  determin- 
edly opposed  to  him,  gave  up  the  contest  and  tele- 


168  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

graphed  to  his  paper  that  Seward  would  be  nom- 
inated. The  opposition,  he  said,  could  not  unite 
on  any  one  man. 

The  next  most  prominent  name  was  Lincoln. 
He  had  the  full  delegation  of  Illinois,  who,  at 
Decatur,  had  been  instructed  to  vote  for  him  as 
"  the  first  and  only  choice  "  of  the  state.  He  had 
many  votes,  too,  from  the  neighboring  states. 

In  addition  to  these  two  candidates  before  the 
convention,  there  were  half  a  dozen  others,  all 
"  favorite  sons  "  of  their  own  states,  but  who  at 
no  time  developed  any  great  strength. 

The  only  point  against  Seward  was  his  inability 
to  carry  certain  doubtful  states.  If  the  split  in 
the  democratic  party  had  not  occurred,  and  if  the 
election  were  to  be  carried  according  to  the  expe- 
rience of  1856,  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  re- 
publicans to  carry  certain  states  which  they  had 
at  that  time  failed  to  carry.  The  most  available 
states  were  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  Indiana, 
and  Illinois.  Under  favorable  circumstances, 
these  could  be  carried.  Seward's  long  public 
career  had  inevitably  caused  antagonisms,  and 
these  necessary  states  he  could  not  carry.  The 
question  with  his  opponents  then  was.  Who  is 
most  likely  to  carry  these  states  ?  Lincoln's  pop- 
ularity in  three  of  the  four  states  named  singled 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  169 

him  out  as  the  rival  of  Seward.  It  then  became 
only  a  question  whether  the  opposition  to  Seward 
could  or  could  not  unite  in  the  support  of  Lincoln. 

At  this  point  there  came  in  a  political  ruse  which 
has  been  often  used  in  later  years.  Seward's 
friends  had  taken  to  Chicago  a  small  army  of 
claquers,  numbering  nearly  or  quite  two  thousand. 
These  were  distributed  through  the  audience  and 
were  apparently  under  orders  to  shout  whenever 
Seward's  name  was  mentioned.  This  gave  the  ap- 
pearance of  spontaneous  applause  and  seemed  to 
arouse  great  enthusiasm  for  the  candidate. 

Lincoln's  friends  soon  came  to  understand  the 
situation  and  planned  to  beat  their  rivals  at  their 
own  game.  They  sent  out  into  the  country  and 
secured  two  men  with  phenomenal  voices.  It  was 
said,  with  playful  exaggeration,  that  these  two 
men  could  shout  so  as  to  be  heard  across  Lake 
Michigan.  They  were  made  captains  of  two 
stentorian  bands  of  followers.  These  were  placed 
on  opposite  sides  of  the  auditorium  and  were  in- 
structed to  raise  the  shout  at  a  preconcerted  sig- 
nal and  keep  it  up  as  long  as  desired.  The  plan 
worked. 

Leonard  Swett  describes  the  result :  "Caleb  B, 
Smith  of  Indiana  then  seconded  the  nomination 
of  Lincoln,  and  the  West  came  to  his  rescue.     No 


170  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mortal  before  ever  saw  such  a  scene.  The  idea 
of  us  Hoosiers  and  Suckers  being  out-screamed 
would  have  been  as  bad  to  them  as  the  loss  of 
their  man.  Five  thousand  people  at  once  leaped 
to  their  seats,  women  not  wanting  in  the  num- 
ber, and  the  wild  yell  made  soft  vesper  breath- 
ings of  all  that  had  preceded.  No  language  can 
describe  it.  A  thousand  steam-whistles,  ten  acres 
of  hotel  gongs,  a  tribe  of  Comanches  headed  by 
a  choice  vanguard  from  pandemonium,  might 
have  mingled  in  the  scene  unnoticed." 

A  dramatic  scene  had  occurred  at  the  adoption 
of  the  platform.  When  the  first  resolution  was 
read,  Joshua  E.  Giddings,  an  old-time  abolition- 
ist of  the  extreme  type,  moved  as  an  amendment 
to  incorporate  the  words  from  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  which  announce  the  right  of  all 
men  to  "  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." The  hostility  to  this  amendment  was  not 
so  much  owing  to  an  objection  to  the  phrase,  as 
to  its  being  introduced  upon  the  motion  of  so  ex- 
treme a  partisan  as  Giddings.  The  new  party 
was  made  up  of  men  of  various  old  parties, 
and  it  was  important  that  the  moderate  demo- 
crats should  not  be  antagonized  by  the  extreme 
abolitionists.  The  motion  was  lost  by  a  decided 
vote,  and  the  old  man,   almost  broken-hearted, 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  171 

left  the  hall  amid  the  protestations  of  his  as- 
sociates. 

There  then  came  to  his  rescue  a  young  man, 
about  thirty-six  years  of  age,  who  was  then  not 
widely  known,  but  who  since  has  more  than  once 
decidedly  influenced  republican  conventions  at  a 
critical  stage  of  the  proceedings.  It  was  George 
William  Curtis.  When  the  second  resolution  was 
under  consideration  he  presented  the  amendment 
of  Giddings  in  a  form  slightly  modified.  He  then 
urged  it  in  an  impassioned  speech,  and  by  his 
torrent  of  eloquence  carried  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
convention  with  him.  "  I  have  to  ask  this  con- 
vention," he  concluded,  "  whether  they  are  pre- 
pared to  go  upon  the  record  before  the  country 
as  voting  down  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  ...  I  rise  simply  to  ask  gentle- 
men to  think  well  before,  upon  the  free  prairies 
of  the  West,  in  the  summer  of  1860,  they  dare  to 
wince  and  quail  before  the  assertion  of  the  men 
of  Philadelphia  in  1776— before  they  dare  to 
shrink  from  repeating  the  words  that  these  great 
men  enunciated." 

The  amendment  was  adopted  in  a  storm  of 
applause.  Giddings,  overjoyed  at  the  result, 
returned  to  the  hall.  He  threw  his  arms  about 
Curtis  and,  with  deep  emotion,  exclaimed,—"  God 


172  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

bless  you,  my  boy  !    You  have  saved  the  republi- 
can party.     God  bless  you  ! " 

The  candidates  in  those  days  were  simply  an- 
nounced without  speeches  of  glorification,  Mr. 
Evarts  of  New  Yoj:-k  named  Seward,  and  Mr. 
Judd  of  Illinois  named  Lincoln.  The  names 
of  half  a  dozen  ''favorite  sons"  were  offered 
by  their  states,  the  most  important  being  Bates 
of  Missouri.  After  the  seconding  of  the  nom- 
inations the  convention  proceeded  to  the  ballot. 
There  were  465  votes,  and  233  were  necessary  for 
a  choice. 

On  the  first  ballot  Seward  received  173^,  and 
Lincoln,  102.  The  rest  were  scattering.  On 
the  second  ballot  Seward  received  184^,  and  Lin- 
coln, 181.  Seward  was  still  ahead,  but  Lincoln 
had  made  by  far  the  greater  gain.  On  the  third 
ballot  Seward  received  180,  and  Lincoln  231|, 
But  this  ballot  was  not  announced.  The  delegates 
kept  tally  during  the  progress  of  the  vote. 
When  it  became  evident  that  Lincoln  was  about 
elected,  while  the  feeling  of  expectancy  was  at 
the  highest  degree  of  tension,  an  Ohio  delegate 
mounted  his  chair  and  announced  a  change  of 
four  Ohio  votes  from  Chase  to  Lincoln.  There 
was  instantly  a  break.  On  every  side  delegates 
announced  a  change  of  vote  to  Lincoln.     The  re- 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  I73 

suit  was  evident  to  every  one,  and  after  a  mo- 
ment's pause,  the  crowd  went  mad  with  joy. 
One  spectator  has  recorded  the  event : 

*'The  scene  which  followed  baffles  all  human 
description.  After  an  instant's  silence,  which 
seemed  to  be  required  to  enable  the  assembly  to 
take  in  the  full  force  of  the  announcement,  the 
wildest  and  mightiest  yell  (for  it  can  be  called  by 
no  other  name)  burst  forth  from  ten  thousand 
voices  which  were  ever  heard  from  mortal  throats. 
This  strange  and  tremendous  demonstration, 
accompanied  with  leaping  up  and  down,  tossing 
hats,  handkerchiefs,  and  canes  recklessly  into 
the  air,  with  the  waving  of  flags,  and  with  every 
other  conceivable  mode  of  exultant  and  un- 
bridled joy,  continued  steadily  and  without  pause 
for  perhaps  ten  minutes. 

"  It  then  began  to  rise  and  fall  in  slow  and 
billowing  bursts,  and  for  perhaps  the  next  five 
minutes,  these  stupendous  waves  of  uncontrollable 
excitement,  now  rising  into  the  deepest  and 
fiercest  shouts,  and  then  sinking,  like  the  ground 
swell  of  the  ocean,  into  hoarse  and  lessening  mur- 
murs, rolled  through  the  multitude.  Every  now 
and  then  it  would  seem  as  though  the  physical 
power  of  the  assembly  was  exhausted,  when  all 
at  once  a  new  hurricane  would  break  out,  more 


174  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

prolonged  and  terrific  than  anything  before.  If 
sheer  exhaustion  had  not  prevented,  we  don't 
know  but  the  applause  would  have  continued  to 
this  hour." 

During  all  this  time  Lincoln  remained  at 
Springfield,  where  he  was  in  telegraphic  com- 
munication with  his  friends  at  Chicago,  though 
not  by  private  wire.  At  the  time  of  his  nomina- 
tion he  had  gone  from  his  oflSce  to  that  of  the 
Sangamon  Journal.  A  messenger  boy  came 
rushing  up  to  him,  carrying  a  telegram  and  ex- 
claiming, ''You  are  nominated."  The  friends 
who  were  present  joyously  shook  his  hands  and 
uttered  their  eager  congratulations.  Lincoln 
thanked  them  for  their  good  wishes,  and  said  • 
"  There  is  a  little  woman  on  Eighth  Street  who 
will  be  glad  to  hear  this,  and  I  guess  I'll  go  up 
and  carry  her  the  news."  Pocketing  the  tele- 
gram he  walked  home. 

At  the  wigwam,  the  news  spread  quickly.  A 
man  had  been  stationed  on  the  roof  as  picket. 
He  shouted,  ''  Hallelujah  !  Abe  Lincoln  is  nom- 
inated. Fire  the  cannon!"  The  frenzy  of  joy 
spread  to  the  immense  throng  of  citizens  outside 
the  wigwam,  then  through  the  city,  then  through 
the  state,  then  through  the  neighboring  states. 
At  Washington  that  night  someone  asked, ''  Who 


THE  NOMINATION  OF  1860.  1Y5 

is  this  man  Lincoln,  anyhow  ? "  Douglas  replied, 
"  There  won't  be  a  tar  barrel  left  in  Illinois  to- 
night." With  unprecedented  enthusiasm  the  re- 
publican party  started  on  this  campaign  which 
led  to  its  first  victory  in  the  election  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  of  Illinois,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin  of 
Maine. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  ELECTION. 

There  are  two  things  which  made  the  cam- 
paign of  1860  paradoxical,  so  to  speak.  One  was 
that  the  nomination  was  equivalent  to  an  election, 
unless  unforeseen  difficulties  should  arise.  The 
other  was  that  this  election  might  be  used  by  the 
extreme  Southern  democrats  as  an  excuse  for 
precipitating  war.     They  threatened  this. 

After  the  nomination  the  committee  of  the  con- 
vention duly  called  on  Lincoln  to  give  him  the 
formal  notification.  This  committee  included 
some  names  that  were  at  that  time,  and  still 
more  so  later,  widely  known.  Among  them  were 
three  from  Massachusetts :  Ashmun,  then  Gov- 
ernor, and  chairman  of  the  Chicago  convention, 
Bowles,  editor  of  the  Springfield  Republican,  and 
Boutwell.  There  were  also  Gideon  Welles,  Carl 
Schurz,  Francis  P.  Blair,  and  W.  M.  Evarts.  The 
chairman  of  this  committee  notified  Lincoln  in  a 
brief  speech,  to  which  he  responded  with  equal 

brevitv.     Even  these  few    words  impressed  his 

176 


THE  ELECTION.  177 

hearers  with  a  sense  of  dignity  and  manhness 
which  they  were  only  too  glad  to  perceive.  Said 
Mr.  Boutwell :  ' '  Why,  sir,  they  told  me  he  was  a 
rough  diamond.  Nothing  could  have  been  in 
better  taste  than  that  speech." 

One  who  had  opposed  Lincoln  in  the  convention 
said  :  "  We  might  have  done  a  more  daring  thing 
[than  nominate  him],  but  we  certainly  could  not 
have  done  a  better  thing. "  Carl  Schurz  evidently 
shared  this  feeling. 

Judge  Kelly  of  Pennsylvania  was  a  very  tall 
man  and  was  proud  of  the  fact.  During  the 
brief  ceremony  he  and  Lincoln  had  been  measur- 
ing each  other  with  the  eye.  At  the  conclusion 
of  the  ceremony,  the  President-elect  demanded  : 

''What's  your  height?" 

"  Six  feet  three.     What  is  yours,  Mr.  Lincoln  ? " 

"Six  feet  four." 

"Then,"  said  the  judge,  "  Pennsylvania  bows 
to  Illinois.  My  dear  man,  for  many  years  my 
heart  has  been  aching  for  a  President  I  could  look 
up  to,  and  I've  found  him  at  last  in  the  land  where 
we  thought  there  were  none  but  little  giants." 

The  general  feeling  of  the  committee  was  that 
the  convention  had  made  no  mistake.  This  feel- 
ing quickly  spread  throughout  the  entire  party. 
Some  of  Seward's  friends  wanted  him  to  run  on 

12 


178  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

an  independent  ticket.     It  is  to  his  credit  that  he 
scouted  the  idea. 

The  democrats,  at  least  the  opponents  of  Lincoln, 
were  divided  into  three  camps,  The  first  was  the 
regular  party,  headed  by  Douglas.  The  second 
was  the  bolting  party  of  fire-eaters,  who  nomi- 
nated Breckinridge.  The  third  was  the  party 
that  nominated  Bell  and  Everett.  This  was 
wittily  called  the  Kangaroo  ticket,  because  the 
tail  was  the  most  important  part.  Lincoln's  popu- 
lar vote  at  the  November  election  was  about  forty 
per  cent,  of  the  total.  It  was  plain  that  if  his 
supporters  held  together  and  his  opponents  were 
divided,  he  could  readily  get  a  plurality.  There 
were  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  opponents  of 
Lincoln  to  run  fusion  tickets  in  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania,  so  as  to  divert  the 
electoral  votes  from  him ;  but  these  came  to 
nothing  more  than  that  New  Jersey  diverted  three 
of  her  seven  electoral  votes. 

A  curious  feature  of  the  campaign  was  that  all 
four  candidates  declared  emphatically  for  the 
Union.  Breckinridge,  who  was  the  candidate  of 
the  Southern  disunionists,  wrote;  "The  Consti- 
tution and  the  equality  of  the  states,  these  are 
symbols  of  everlasting  union."  Lincoln  himself 
oould  hardly  have  used  stronger  language.     Some 


THE  ELECTION.  179 

people  were  doubtless  deceived  by  these  protesta- 
tions, but  not  Douglas.  He  declared  :  "I  do  not 
believe  that  every  Breckinridge  man  is  a  dis- 
unionist,  but  I  do  believe  that  every  disunionist 
in  America  is  a  Breckinridge  man." 

During  the  period  of  nearly  six  months  between 
nomination  and  election,  Lincoln  continued 
simple,  patient,  wise.  He  was  gratified  by  the 
nomination.  He  was  not  elated,  for  he  was  not 
an  ambitious  man.  On  the  contrary,  he  felt  the 
burden  of  responsibility.  He  was  a  far-seeing 
statesman,  and  no  man  more  distinctly  realized 
the  coming  tragedy.  He  felt  the  call  of  duty, 
not  to  triumph  but  to  sacrifice.  This  was  the 
cause  of  his  seriousness  and  gravity  of  de- 
meanor. 

There  was  no  unnecessary  change  in  his  simple 
manners  and  unpretentious  method  of  living. 
Friends  and  neighbors  came,  and  he  was  glad  to 
see  them.  He  answered  the  door-bell  himself  and 
accompanied  visitors  to  the  door.  Some  of  his 
friends,  desiring  to  save  his  strength  in  these 
little  matters,  procured  a  negro  valet,  Thomas  by 
name.  But  Abraham  continued  to  do  most  of 
the  duties  that  by  right  belonged  to  Thomas. 

Some  one  sent  him  a  silk  hat,  that  he  might  go 
to  Washington  with  head-gear  equal  to  the  oc- 


180  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

casion.  A  farmer's  wife  knit  him  a  pair  of  yarn 
stockings.  Hundreds  of  such  attentions,  kind  in 
intent,  grotesque  in  appearance,  he  received  with 
that  kindness  which  is  the  soul  of  courtesy. 
There  was  a  woman  at  whose  modest  farmhouse 
he  had  once  dined  on  a  bowl  of  bread  and  milk, 
because  he  had  arrived  after  everything  else  had 
been  eaten  up.  She  came  into  Springfield  to 
renew  her  apologies  and  to  remind  him  that  he 
had  said  that  that  repast  was  "good  enough  for 
the  President."  While  he  commanded  the  re- 
spect of  Bryant,  Schurz,  Boutwell,  and  such,  he 
was  at  the  same  time  the  idol  of  the  plain  people, 
whom  he  always  loved.  He  once  said  he  thought 
the  Lord  particularly  loved  plain  people,  for  he 
had  made  so  many  of  them. 

Shortly  after  his  nomination  he  was  present  at 
a  party  in  Chicago.  A  little  girl  approached 
timidly.  He  asked,  encouragingly,  if  he  could  do 
anything  for  her.  She  replied  that  she  wanted 
his  name.  He  looked  about  and  said,  "But  here 
are  other  little  girls — they  will  feel  badly  if  I  give 
my  name  only  to  you. "  She  said  there  were  eight 
of  them  in  all.  "  Then,"  said  he,  "  get  me  eight 
sheets  of  paper,  and  a  pen  and  ink,  and  I  will  see 
what  I  can  do  for  you."  The  materials  were 
brought,  and  in  the  crowded  drawing-room  he  sat 


THE  ELECTION.  181 

down,  wrote  a  sentence  and  his  name  on  each 
sheet  of  paper.  Thus  he  made  eight  little  girls 
happy. 

The  campaign  was  one  of  great  excitement. 
His  letter  of  acceptance  was  of  the  briefest  de- 
scription and  simply  announced  his  adherence  to 
the  platform.  For  the  rest,  his  previous  utter- 
ances in  the  debates  with  Douglas,  the  Cooper 
Institute  speech,  and  other  addresses,  were  in 
print,  and  he  was  content  to  stand  by  the  record. 
He  showed  his  wisdom  in  his  refusing  to  be  di- 
verted, or  to  allow  his  party  to  be  diverted,  from 
the  one  important  question  of  preventing  the  fur- 
ther extension  of  slavery.  The  public  were  not 
permitted  to  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  this  was 
the  real  issue. 

The  Chicago  wigwam  was  copied  in  many 
cities  :  temporary  wooden  structures  were  erected 
for  republican  meetings.  These  did  good  service 
as  rallying  centers. 

Then  the  campaign  biographers  began  to  appear. 
It  was  said  that  by  June  he  had  had  no  less  than 
fifty-two  applications  to  write  his  biography. 
One  such  book  was  written  by  W.  D.  Howells, 
not  so  famous  in  literature  then  as  now.  Lincoln 
furnished  a  sketch  of  his  life,  an  "autobiogra- 
phy "  so  called.     This  contains  only  about  five 


182  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

hundred  words.  Its  brevity  is  an  indication  of 
its  modesty. 

Nor  was  there  any  lack  of  eulogistic  music. 
Among  the  writers  of  campaign  songs  were  J.  G. 
Whittier  and  E.  C  Stedman. 

The  parading  contingent  of  the  party  was  rep- 
resented  by  the  "  Wide- Awakes."  The  uniform 
was  as  effective  as  simple.  It  consisted  of  a  cadet 
cap  and  a  cape,  both  made  of  oil-cloth,  and  a 
torch.  The  first  company  was  organized  in  Hart- 
ford. It  had  escorted  Lincoln  from  the  hotel  to 
the  hall  and  back  again  when  he  spoke  in  that 
city  in  February  after  his  Cooper  Institute  speech. 
The  idea  of  this  uniformed  company  of  cadets 
captivated  the  public  fancy.  Bands  of  Wide- 
Awakes  were  organized  in  every  community  in 
the  North.  At  the  frequent  political  rallies  they 
poured  in  by  thousands  and  tens  of  thousands,  a 
very  picturesque  sight.  The  original  band  in 
Hartford  obtained  the  identical  maul  with  which 
Lincoln  had  split  those  rails  in  1830.  It  is  now 
in  the  collection  of  the  Connecticut  Historical 
Society,  in  Hartford. 

Though  Lincoln  had  much  to  cheer  him,  he 
had  also  his  share  of  annoyances.  One  of  his 
discouragements  was  so  serious,  and  at  this  day 
it  appears  so  amazing,  that  it  is  given  nearly  in 


THE  ELECTION.  183 

full.  A  careful  canvas  had  been  made  of  the 
voters  of  Springfield,  and  the  intention  of  each 
voter  had  been  recorded.  Lincoln  had  the  book 
containing  this  record.  He  asked  his  friend  Mr. 
Bateman,  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction,  to  look  through  the  book  with  him. 
They  noted  particularly  those  who  might  be 
considered  leaders  of  public  morals :  clergy- 
men, officers,  or  prominent  members  of  the 
churches. 

When  the  memorandum  was  tabulated,  after 
some  minutes  of  silence,  he  turned  a  sad  face  to 
Mr.  Bateman,  and  said  :  ''  Here  are  twenty-three 
ministers,  of  different  denominations,  and  all  of 
them  are  against  me  but  three  ;  and  here  are  a 
great  many  prominent  members  of  the  churches, 
a  very  large  majority  of  whom  are  against  me. 
Mr.  Bateman,  I  am  not  a  Christian — God  knows 
I  would  be  one — but  I  have  carefully  read  the 
Bible,  and  I  do  not  so  understand  this  book."  He 
drew  from  his  pocket  a  New  Testament.  "  These 
men  well  know  that  I  am  for  freedom  in  the  terri- 
tories, freedom  everywhere  as  far  as  the  Constitu- 
tion and  laws  will  permit,  and  that  my  opponents 
are  for  slavery.  They  know  this,  and  yet,  with 
this  book  in  their  hands,  in  the  light  of  which 
human  bondage  cannot  live  a  moment,  they  are 


184  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

going  to  vote  against  me.  I  do  not  understand 
it  at  all." 

After  a  long  pause,  he  added  with  tears  :  "  I 
know  there  is  a  God,  and  that  He  hates  injustice 
and  slavery.  I  see  the  storm  coming,  and  I  know 
that  His  hand  is  in  it.  If  He  has  a  place  and  work 
for  me — and  I  think  He  has — I  believe  I  am  ready. 
I  am  nothing,  but  truth  is  everything.  I  know 
I  am  right  because  I  know  that  liberty  is  right, 
for  Christ  teaches  it,  and  Christ  is  God.  I  have 
told  them  that  a  house  divided  against  itself  can- 
not stand,  and  Christ  and  reason  say  the  same  ; 
and  they  will  find  it  so.  Douglas  doesn't  care 
whether  slavery  is  voted  up  or  voted  down,  but 
God  cares,  and  humanity  cares,  and  I  care  ;  and 
with  God's  help  I  shall  not  fail.  I  may  not  see 
the  end  ;  but  it  will  come  and  I  shall  be  vindi- 
cated ;  and  these  men  will  find  that  they  have 
not  read  their  Bibles  aright." 

After  another  pause  :  '' Doesn't  it  appear 
strange  that  men  can  ignore  the  moral  aspects  of 
this  contest  ?  A  revelation  could  not  make  it 
plainer  to  me  that  slavery  or  the  government 
must  be  destroyed.  The  future  would  be  some- 
thing awful,  as  I  look  at  it,  but  for  this  rock  [the 
Testament  which  he  was  holding]  on  which  I 
stand, — especially   with  the  knowledge  of  how 


THE  ELECTION.  185 

these  ministers  are  going  to  vote.  It  seems  as  if 
God  had  borne  with  this  thing  [slavery]  until  the 
very  teachers  of  religion  had  come  to  defend  it 
from  the  Bible,  and  to  claim  for  it  a  divine  char- 
acter and  sanction  ;  and  now  the  cup  of  ini- 
quity is  full,  and  the  vials  of  wrath  will  be  poured 
out." 

Lincoln  did  not  wear  his  heart  upon  his  sleeve. 
On  the  subject  of  religion,  he  was  reticent  to  a 
degree.  Peter  Cartwright  had  called  him  an 
atheist.  There  was  a  wide,  if  not  general,  impres- 
sion, that  he  was  not  a  religious  man.  This  did 
him  great  injustice.  It  is  for  this  reason  that 
his  remarks  to  Mr.  Bateman  are  here  quoted  at 
length.  From  his  early  boyhood,  from  before 
the  time  when  he  was  at  great  pains  to  have  a 
memorial  sermon  for  his  mother,  he  was  pro- 
foundly, intensely  religious.  He  did  no  injus- 
tice to  any  other  man,  he  did  not  do  justice  to 
himself. 

The  election  occurred  on  the  sixth  day  of 
November.  The  vote  was  as  follows  :  Lincoln 
received  1,866,452  popular  votes,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  electoral  votes.  Douglas  received 
1,375,15Y  popular  votes,  and  twelve  electoral 
votes.  Breckinridge  received  847,953  popular 
votes,  and  seventy-two  electoral  votes.     Bell  re- 


186  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ceived  590,631  popular  votes,  and  thirty-nine  elec- 
toral votes. 

Lincoln  carried  all  the  free  states,  excepting 
that  in  New  Jersey  the  electoral  vote  was  divided, 
he  receiving  four  out  of  seven.  In  the  fifteen 
slave  states  he  received  no  electoral  vote.  In  ten 
states  not  one  person  had  voted  for  him. 

Of  the  303  electoral  votes  he  had  received  180, 
while  the  aggregate  of  all  against  him  numbered 
123,  giving  him  an  absolute  majority  of  57.  The 
electoral  vote  was  duly  counted  in  the  joint 
session  of  the  two  houses  of  congress  February 
13,  1861,  and  it  was  officially  announced  that 
Abraham  Lincoln,  having  received  a  majority  of 
the  votes  of  the  presidential  electors,  was  duly 
elected  President  of  the  United  States  for  four 
years,  beginning  March  4,  1861. 

One  circumstance  is  added  which  may  be  of  in- 
terest to  the  reader.  This  was  published,  after 
his  death,  by  his  personal  friend,  Noah  Brooks. 
It  is  given  in  Lincoln's  own  words  : 

"  It  was  just  after  my  election,  in  1860,  when 
the  news  had  been  coming  in  thick  and  fast  all 
day,  and  .there  had  been  a  great  '  Hurrah  boys  ! ' 
so  that  I  was  well  tired  out  and  went  home  to 
rest,  throwing  mj^self  upon  a  lounge  in  my  cham- 
ber.    Opposite  to  where  I  lay  was  a  bureau  with 


THE  ELECTION.  187 

a  swinging  glass  upon  it ;  and  looking  in  that 
glass,  I  saw  myself  reflected  nearly  at  full  length  ; 
but   my   face,    I  noticed,  had  two  separate  and 
distinct  images,   the  tip  of  the  nose  of  the  one 
being  about   three   inches   from   the   tip  of   the 
other.     I  was  a  little  bothered,  perhaps  startled, 
and  got  up  and  looked  in  the  glass,  but  the  illu- 
sion vanished.     On  lying  down  again,  I  saw  it  a 
second   time,    plainer,  if  possible,    than   before  ; 
and  then  I  noticed  that  one  of  the  faces  was  a 
little  paler — say  five  shades — than  the  other.     I 
got  up,  and  the  thing  melted  away,  and  I  went 
off,  and,  in  the  excitement  of  the  hour,  forgot  all 
about  it, — nearly,  but   not   quite,  for  the  thing 
would  once  in  a  while  come  up,  and  give  me  a 
little  pang  as  though  something  uncomfortable 
had  happened.     When  I  went  home,  I  told  my 
wife  about  it,  and  a  few  days  after  I  tried  the 
experiment  again,  when,  sure  enough,  the  thing 
came  back  again  ;  but  I  never  succeeded  in  bring- 
ing the  ghost  back  after  that,  though  I  once  tried 
very  industriously  to  show  it  to  my  wife,  who 
was  worried  about  it  somewhat.     She  thought  it 
was  '  a  sign  '  that  I  was  to  be  elected  to  a  second 
term  of  oflSce,  and  that  the  jialeness  of  one  of  the 
faces  was  an  omen  that  I  should  not  see  life 
through  the  last  term." 


188  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  incident  is  of  no  interest  excepting  in  so 
far  as  everything  about  Lincoln  is  of  interest. 
The  phenomenon  is  an  optical  illusion  not  uncom- 
mon. One  image — the  "paler,"  or  more  indis- 
tinct, one — is  reflected  from  the  surface  of  the 
glass,  while  the  other  is  reflected  from  the  sil- 
vered back  of  the  glass.  Though  Lincoln  under- 
stood that  it  was  an  optical  illusion,  yet  the 
thought  of  it  evidently  weighed  on  him.  Other- 
wise he  would  not  have  repeated  the  experiment 
several  times,  nor  would  he  have  told  of  it  to 
different  persons. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

FOUR  LONG  MONTHS. 

Four  months  would  not  ordinarily  be  con- 
sidered a  long  period  of  time.  But  when  one  is 
compelled  to  see  the  working  of  a  vast  amount 
of  mischief,  powerless  to  prevent  it,  and  knowing 
one's  self  to  be  the  chief  victim  of  it  all,  the  time 
is  long.  Such  was  the  fate  of  Lincoln.  The  elec- 
tion was  not  the  end  of  a  life  of  toil  and  struggle, 
it  was  the  beginning  of  a  new  career  of  sorrow. 
The  period  of  four  months  between  the  election 
and  inauguration  could  not  be  devoted  to  rest  or 
to  the  pleasant  plans  for  a  prosperous  term  of 
service.  There  developed  a  plan  for  the  disrup- 
tion of  the  government.  The  excuse  was  Lincoln's 
election.  But  he  was  for  four  months  only  a  pri- 
vate citizen.  He  had  no  power.  He  could  only 
watch  the  growing  mischief  and  realize  that  he 
was  the  ultimate  victim. 

Buchanan,    who  was   then    President,    had  a 

genius  for  doing  the  most  unwise  thing.     He  was 

a  northern  man  with  southern  principles,  and  this 

189 


^190  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

may  have  unfitted  him  to  see  things  in  their  true 
relations.  He  certainly  was  putty  in  the  hands 
of  those  who  wished  to  destroy  the  Union,  and 
his  vacillation  precisely  accomplished  what  they 
wished.  Had  he  possessed  the  firmness  and  spirit 
of  John  A.  Dix,  who  ordered, — ''  If  any  man 
attempts  to  haul  down  the  American  flag,  shoot 
him  on  the  spot  ; "  had  he  had  a  modicum  of  the 
patriotism  of  Andrew  Jackson  ;  had  he  had  a 
tithe  of  the  wisdom  and  manliness  of  Lincoln  ; 
secession  would  have  been  nipped  in  the  bud  and 
vast  treasures  of  money  and  irreparable  waste  of 
human  blood  would  have  been  spared.  Whatever 
the  reason  may  have  been, — incapacity,  obliquity 
of  moral  and  political  vision,  or  absolute  cham- 
pionship of  the  cause  of  disruption, — certain  it  is 
that  the  southern  fire-eaters  could  not  have  found 
a  tool  more  perfectly  suited  to  their  purpose  than 
James  Buchanan.  He  was  the  center  of  one 
of  the  most  astonishing  political  cabals  of  all 
history. 

Lincoln  did  not  pass  indiscriminate  condemna- 
tion upon  all  men  of  southern  sympathies.  At 
the  time  of  which  we  are  now  writing,  and  con- 
sistently up  to  the  end  of  his  life,  he  made  a 
marked  distinction  between  the  rank  and  file  of 
the  Confederates  on  the  one  hand,   and  those 


FOUR  LONG  MONTHS.  191 

leaders  who,  on  the  other  hand,  had,  while  in  the 
service  of  the  United  States  government,  sought 
to  accomplish  its  destruction.  The  first  were  rev- 
olutionists ;  they  were  so  regarded  generally  in 
Europe,  and  he  believed  they  were  sincere  ;  he  re- 
garded them  as  having  the  spirit  of  revolutionists. 
For  the  second,  who  held  office  under,  drew  pay 
from,  and  were  under  solemn  oath  to  support,  the 
government,  while  they  were  using  the  vantage 
of  their  official  position  to  violate  the  Constitution 
and  disrupt  that  government,  there  is  but  one 
word,  and  that  a  strong  one,— traitors.  This  was 
Lincoln's  judgment  of  the  men. 

Let  us  now  briefly  describe  the  situation.  Jef- 
ferson Davis,  though  not  a  member  of  Buchanan's 
cabinet,  was  probably  the  most  influential  of  the 
Southerners  in  Washington.  He  had  been  Secre- 
tary of  War  under  Pierce,  and  it  was  he  who  in- 
augurated the  policy  of  stripping  the  North  for 
the  purpose  of  strengthening  the  military  de- 
fenses of  the  South.  This  policy  was  vigorously 
pursued  under  his  successor. 

The  only  person  to  call  a  halt  to  the  treasonable 
proceedings  was  General  Winfield  Scott.  He 
was  residing  in  New  York  City,  and  on  October 
29th  addressed  a  letter  to  President  Buchanan 
containing  his  views  upon  the  situation.    A  day  or 


193  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

two  later  he  added  supplementary  considerations 
addressed  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  He  set  forth, 
with  much  clearness  and  force,  the  necessity  of 
garrisoning  the  southern  forts  before  they  should 
be  lost.  His  letter  had  its  faults,  but  it  accom- 
plished one  thing  :  it  showed  that  there  was  one 
high  official  who  was  in  earnest  in  the  discharge 
of  his  duties,  and  with  whom  it  was  not  safe  to 
trifle. 

President  Buchanan  sent  in  his  annual  message 
to  Congress  December  3, 1860.  In  his  discussion  of 
the  subject  of  slavery,  he  recommended  that  it  be 
extended  to  the  territories, — the  very  thing  that 
the  people,  had  just  voted  should  not  be  done. 
Concerning  secession,  he  said  for  substance  that 
the  government  had  the  power  to  suppress  revolt, 
but  that  it  could  not  use  that  power  in  reference 
to  South  Carolina,  the  state  then  under  considera- 
tion. The  secessionists  had  apparently  tied  the 
hands  of  the  executive  effectually. 

Now  observe  what  was  going  on  in  the  cabinet. 
Lewis  Cass  had  been  Secretary  of  State,  but  re- 
signed in  indignation  over  the  inaction  of  the 
President  when  he  failed  to  succor  the  forts 
in  Charleston  Harbor.  He  was  succeeded  by 
Jeremiah  S.  Black,  who,  as  attorney-general, 
had  given  to  Buchanan  an  opinion  that  the  Fed- 


FOUR  LONG  MONTHS.  193 

eral  government  had  no  power  to  coerce  a  seced- 
ing state. 

Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  having 
wasted  the  funds  and  destroyed  the  credit  of  the 
government,  resigned  and  left  an  empty  treasury. 

John  B.  Floyd,  Secretary  of  War,  was  not  the 
least  active.  He  carried  out  fully  the  plan  which 
Jefferson  Davis  had  begun  to  operate  several 
years  before.  The  northern  arsenals  were  stripped 
of  the  arms  and  ammunition  which  were  sent 
South  for  storage  or  use.  The  number  of  regular 
troops  was  small,  but  the  few  soldiers  there  were, 
he  scattered  in  distant  places,  so  that  they  should 
be  out  of  reach.  They  were  not  to  be  available  for 
the  use  of  the  government  until  the  conspirators 
should  have  time  to  complete  their  work.  It  was 
Floyd  whom  an  emotional  Virginian  later  eulo- 
gized. With  quite  as  much  truth  as  poetry  he 
declared  that  the  Secretary  of  War  "thwarted, 
objected,  resisted,  and  forbade"  the  efforts  of 
General  Scott.  This  same  admirer  of  Floyd 
further  declared  that,  if  Scott's  plans  had  been 
adopted  and  his  measures  executed,  the  conspiracy 
would  have  been  defeated  and  it  would  have  been 
impossible  to  form  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

Not  worse,  perhaps,  but  more  flagrant,  was  the 

action  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  Thompson 
13 


194  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

of  Mississippi.  With,  the  advice  and  consent  of 
Buchanan,  he  left  his  post  at  Washington  to  visit 
North  Carolina  and  help  on  the  work  of  secession, 
and  then  returned  and  resumed  his  official  pre- 
rogatives under  the  government  he  had  sworn 
to  sustain.  This  is  so  grave  a  matter  that  a 
passage  from  the  diary  of  Mr.  Clingman  is  here 
inserted,  quoted  by  Nicolay  and  Hay  : 

"About  the  middle  of  December  (1860)  I  had 
occasion  to  see  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  on 
some  official  business.  On  my  entering  the  room, 
Mr.  Thompson  said  to  me,  '  Clingman,  I  am  glad 
you  have  called,  for  I  intended  presently  to  go  up 
to  the  senate  to  see  you.  I  have  been  appointed 
a  commissioner  by  the  state  of  Mississippi  to  go 
down  to  North  Carolina  to  get  your  state  to 
secede.'  ...  I  said  to  him,  '  I  did  not  know  you 
had  resigned.'  He  answered,  'Oh,  no!  I  have 
not  resigned.'  'Then,'  I  replied,  'I  suppose 
you  resign  in  the  morning.'  'No,'  he  answered, 
"  I  do  not  intend  to  resign,  for  Mr.  Buchanan 
wished  us  all  to  hold  on,  and  go  out  with  him  ou 
the  4th  of  March.'  'But,'  said  I,  'does  Mr. 
Buchanan  know  for  what  purpose  you  are  going 
to  North  Carolina?'  'Certainly,'  he  said,  'he 
knows  my  object.' " 

In  the  meanwhile,  Isaac  Toucey,  the  Secretary 


FOUR  LONG  MONTHS.  I95 

of  the  Navy,  had  been  prevailed  on  to  put  the 
navy  out  of  reach.  The  armed  vessels  were  sent 
to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  At  the  critical  period, 
only  two  were  available  to  the  government. 

What  was  going  on  in  congress  ?  That  body 
was  very  busy  doing  nothing.  Both  senate  and 
house  raised  committees  for  the  purpose  of  devis- 
ing means  of  compromise.  But  every  measure  of 
concession  was  promptly  voted  down  by  the  body 
that  had  appointed  the  committees.  In  the  senate 
the  slave  power  was  in  full  control.  In  the  house 
the  slave  power  was  not  in  majority,  but  they 
enjoyed  this  advantage  that  they  were  able  to 
work  together,  while  the  constituency  of  the  free 
states  were  usually  divided  among  themselves. 
And  in  joint  session  the  extreme  pro-slavery  men 
were  always  able  to  prevent  anything  from 
being  accomplished.  This  was  all  they  wished. 
They  had  sufficient  pledges  from  the  President 
that  nothing  would  be  done  before  the  4th  of 
March,  and  it  was  their  belief  that  by  that  time 
the  new  power  would  have  so  good  a  start  that  it 
could  treat  with  the  United  States  on  equal  terms. 

On  January  Y,  1861,  Senator  Yulee,  of  Florida, 
wrote  :  "By  remjiining  in  our  places  until  the 
4th  of  March,  it  is  thought  we  can  keep  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Buchanan  tied,  and  disable  the  republicans 


196  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

from  effecting  any  legislation  which  will 
strengthen  the  hands  of  the  incoming  adminis- 
tration." 

On  December  14,  thirty  of  the  southern  senators 
and  representatives  had  issued  a  circular  to  their 
constituents.  They  said  that  the  argument  was 
exhausted,  that  all  hope  of  relief  was  extin- 
guished, that  the  republicans  would  grant  nothing 
satisfactory,  and  that  the  honor,  safety,  and  in- 
dependence of  the  Southern  people  required  the 
organization  of  a  Southern  Confederacy. 

South  Carolina  was  the  first  to  act.  Six  days 
later  that  state  passed  the  ordinance  of  secession. 

Upon  this,  one  of  the  extreme  traitors  was 
forced  out  of  the  cabinet.  Floyd,  the  mischievous 
Secretary  of  War,  was  displaced  by  Holt,  a  loyal 
man.  Floyd,  however,  had  done  nearly,  if  not 
quite,  all  the  mischief  he  could  have  done.  Stan- 
ton had  already  replaced  Black  as  Attorney-Gen- 
eral. 

The  conspirators  then  held  a  caucus.  It  is 
supposed  that  this  caucus  was  held  in  one  of  the 
rooms  of  the  Capitol.  At  all  events  it  was  held 
in  the  city  of  Washington,  It  was  composed  of 
the  extreme  southern  congressmen.  It  decided 
to  recommend  immediate  secession,  the  formation 
of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and,  not  least,  that 


FOUR  LONG  MONTHS.  197 

the  congressmen  should  remain  in  their  seats  to 
keep  the  President's  hands  tied.  The  committee 
to  carry  out  tliese  plans  consisted  of  Jefferson 
Davis,  Slidell,  and  Mallory.  By  the  first  day  of 
February,  seven  states  had  passed  ordinances  of 
secession. 

This  is  about  what  v^^as  going  on  during  the 
four  months  Lincoln  v^as  waiting  for  the  appointed 
time  when  he  should  enter  upon  his  duties.  It 
was  not  unlike  looking  upon  a  house  he  was 
shortly  to  occupy,  and  seeing  vandals  applying 
the  torch  and  ax  of  destruction,  while  he  was  not 
permitted  to  go  to  the  rescue,  all  the  while  know- 
ing that  he  would  be  held  accountable  for  the 
preservation  of  the  structure.  So  Lincoln  saw 
this  work  of  destruction  going  on  at  Washington. 
It  was  plain  that  the  mischief  ought  to  be,  and 
could  be,  stopped.  But  Buchanan  would  not  stop 
it,  and  Lincoln  was,  until  March  4th,  a  private 
citizen  and  could  do  nothing.  The  bitterest  part 
of  it  was  that  all  the  burden  would  fall  on  him. 
As  soon  as  he  should  become  President  it  would 
be  his  duty  to  save  the  government  which  these 
men  were  now  openly  destroying. 

Miss  Tarbell  has  recorded  a  conversation  be- 
tween Lincoln  and  his  friend  Judge  Gillespie, 
which  took  place  in  Springfield  early  in  January, 


198  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

in  which  the  former  expressed  his  feelings  upon 
the  situation.  "Gillespie,"  said  he,  "I  would 
willingl}^  take  out  of  my  life  a  period  in  years 
equal  to  the  two  months  which  intervene  between 
now  and  the  inauguration,  to  take  the  oath  of 
office  now." 

"Why?" 

"  Because  every  hour  adds  to  the  difficulties  I 
am  called  upon  to  meet  and  the  present  adminis- 
tration does  nothing  to  check  the  tendency 
towards  dissolution.  I,  who  have  been  called  to 
meet  this  awful  responsibility,  am  compelled  to 
remain  here,  doing  nothing  to  avert  it  or  lessen 
its  force  when  it  comes  to  me.  .  .  .  Every  day 
adds  to  the  situation  and  makes  the  outlook  more 
gloomy.  Secession  is  being  fostered  rather  than 
repressed.  ...  I  have  read,  upon  my  knees,  the 
story  of  Gethsemane,  where  the  Son  of  God  prayed 
in  vain  that  the  cup  of  bitterness  might  pass  from 
him.  I  am  in  the  garden  of  Gethsemane  now, 
and  my  cup  of  bitterness  is  full  to  overflowing " 
(Tarbell,  "  Life  of  Lincoln,"  11. ,  406). 

It  was  indeed  hard  to  keep  his  patience  and 
self-control.  He  was  importuned  for  expressions 
of  his  views,  for  messages  conciliatory  to  the 
South,  for  some  kind  of  a  proclamation  which 
might    quiet   the  public   feeling.      But   he   saw 


FOUR  LONG  MONTHS.  199 

clearly  that  anything  he  might  say  at  that  time, 
no  matter  how  wise  or  conciliatory,  would  surely 
be  misused  as  fuel  to  add  to  the  flames.  While 
therefore  he  talked  and  wrote  freely  to  his  friends, 
he  made  no  public  announcement.  He  merely 
referred  to  his  record.  His  opinions  had  been 
fully  expressed  in  the  debates  with  Douglas  and 
in  other  speeches.  There  were  four  important 
points  as  to  his  future  policy.  The  Union  should 
be  preserved,  the  Constitution  should  be  upheld, 
and  the  fugitive  slave  law  (being  a  law)  should 
be  enforced,  but  slavery  should  not  be  extended. 
These  fully  covered  all  the  necessary  points  of  the 
subject,  and  beyond  these  he  would  not  go. 

He  who  would  control  others  must  first  control 
himself.  It  is  hard  to  imagine  a  more  severe  test 
than  this  imposed  on  Lincoln  during  this  period 
of  waiting.  He  made  his  preparations  in  silence, 
and  not  an  injudicious  word  escaped  him.  He 
left  his  home  for  Washington  the  11th  day  of 
February,  but  though  he  made  several  speeches 
on  the  wa)^  he  did  not  outline  his  policy  until  he 
read  his  inaugural  address  on  the  4:th  of  March. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

JOURNEY   TO  WASHINGTON. 

The  long  period  of  waiting  approached  its  end. 
Most  of  the  states  and  cities  lying  between  Spring- 
field and  Washington  invited  him  officially  to 
visit  them  on  his  way  to  the  capital.  It  was  de- 
cided that  he  should  accept  as  many  as  possible 
of  these  invitations.  This  would  involve  a  zig- 
zag route  and  require  considerable  time.  The 
invitation  of  Massachusetts  he  declined  on  ac- 
count of  the  pressure  of  time.  Maryland  was 
conspicuous  by  its  omission  of  courtesy.  Two 
private  citizens  of  Baltimore  invited  him  to  din- 
ner.    That  was  all. 

The  presidential  party  consisted  of  about  a 
dozen,  all  told.  They  were  to  leave  Springfield 
February  11,  and  to  consume  about  two  weeks 
on  the  way.  It  was  a  dreary  morning,  partly 
drizzling,  and  partly  snowing.  A  large  crowd 
of  neighbors  had  assembled  at  the  dingy  railway 
station  to  bid  him  good-by.  The  process  of  hand- 
shaking was  interrupted  by  the  arrival  of  the 
200 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  201 

train.  After  the  party  had  entered  the  car,  the 
President  reappeared  on  the  rear  platform.  He 
raised  his  hand  to  speak,  but  did  not  utter  a  word 
until  the  solemn  silence  became  painful.  Then, 
with  great  tenderness  and  seriousness,  he  spoke 
as  follows  : 

"My  friends,  no  one,  not  in  my  situation,  can 
appreciate  my  feeling  of  sadness  at  this  parting. 
To  this  place,  and  the  kindness  of  these  people,  I 
owe  everything.  Here  1  have  lived  a  quarter  of 
a  century,  and  have  passed  from  a  young  to  an 
old  man.  Here  my  children  have  been  born,  and 
one  is  buried.  I  now  leave,  not  knowing  when 
or  whether  ever  I  may  return,  with  a  task  before 
me  greater  than  that  which  rested  upon  Wash- 
ington. Without  the  assistance  of  that  Divine 
Being  who  ever  attended  him,  I  cannot  succeed. 
With  that  assistance,  I  cannot  fail.  Trusting  in 
Him  who  can  go  with  me,  and  remain  with  you, 
and  be  everywhere  for  good,  let  us  confidently 
hope  that  all  will  yet  be  well.  To  His  care  com- 
mending you,  as  I  hope  in  your  prayers  you  will 
commend  me,  I  bid  you  an  affectionate  farewell." 

The  speech  was  telegraphed,  with  substantial 
accuracy  all  over  the  country,  and  was  read  with 
loving  sympathy  by  millions  of  loyal  citizens. 
The  words  above  given  are  the  report  as  revised 


202  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

by  Lincoln  himself,  and  first  published  in  the 
Century  for  December,  1887. 

The  party  was  in  charge  of  Colonel  Ward  Hill 
Lamon,  afterwards  Marshal  of  the  District  of 
Columbia.  He  was  a  trained  athlete,  a  Hercules 
in  strength,  a  man  who  knew  not  what  fear  was, 
and,  with  an  enthusiasm  akin  to  religious  zeal, 
he  was  devoted  to  his  chief  soul  and  body.  In 
the  words  of  a  later  Marshal,  he  "worshiped 
every  bone  in  his  body." 

A  few  friends  had  accompanied  the  presidential 
party  to  Indianapolis,  where  the  first  stop  was 
made.  After  the  address  of  welcome  by  Governor 
Morton  and  the  response,  after  the  speech  to  the 
legislature,  after  the  reception  and  the  hand- 
shaking, they  were  left  in  quiet  in  the  Bates 
House.  These  friends  then  took  Lamon  into  a 
room,  locked  the  door,  and  in  the  most  solemn 
and  impressive  manner  laid  upon  him  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  guarding  Lincoln's  person  until 
they  should  reach  Washington.  The  scene  was 
concluded  by  Dubois  with  a  mixture  of  solemnity 
and  playfulness,  who  said:  "Now,  Lamon,  we 
intrust  the  sacred  life  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  your 
keeping  ;  and  if  you  don't  protect  it,  never  return 
to  Illinois,  for  we  will  murder  you  on  sight." 

Neither  the  exhortation  nor  the  threat  were  in 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  203 

the  least  needed  by  Lamon,  who  was  thoroughly- 
alert.  But  it  is  of  interest  in  this,  that  it  in- 
dicates that  there  was  a  wide-spread  feeling  that 
this  journey  was  fraught  with  unusual  dangers. 

Of  course  Lincoln  made  many  brief  speeches. 
These  were  closely  scanned  in  the  hope  of  finding 
some  premonition  of  his  inaugural.  But  not  one 
such  word  escaped  him.  He  complained  that 
though  he  had  in  his  day  done  much  hard  work, 
this  was  the  hardest  work  he  had  ever  done, — to 
keep  speaking  without  saying  anything.  It  was 
not  quite  true  that  he  did  not  say  anj^hing,  for 
the  speeches  were  thoughtful  and  full  of  interest. 
But  he  did  not  anticipate  his  inaugural,  and  to 
that  the  popular  curiosity  was  alive.  He  did  not 
say  the  things  that  were  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

At  Indianapolis  he  asked  pregnant  questions  : 
"  What,  then,  is  '  coercion  '  ?  What  is  '  invasion '  ? 
...  If  the  United  States  should  merely  hold 
and  retake  its  own  forts  and  other  property  [in 
South  Carolina  that  had  seceded],  and  collect  the 
duties  on  foreign  importations,  or  even  withhold 
the  mails  from  places  where  they  were  habitually 
violated,  would  any,  or  all,  of  these  things  be  '  in- 
vasion '  or  '  coercion '  ?  .  .  .  Upon  what  principle, 
what  rightful  principle,  may  a  state,  being  no 
more  than  one-fiftieth  part  of  the  nation  in  soil 


204  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

and  population,  break  up  the  nation,  and  then 
coerce  a  proportionally  larger  subdivision  of  it- 
self in  the  most  arbitrary  way  ?  What  mysteri- 
ous right  to  play  tyrant  is  conferred  on  a  district 
of  country,  with  its  people,  by  merely  calling  it  a 
state  ?  Fellow-citizens,  I  am  not  asserting  any- 
thing. I  am  merely  asking  questions  for  you  to 
consider." 

At  Trenton,  New  Jersey,  historic  in  the  annals 
of  the  revolutionary  war,  he  spoke  with  simple 
candor  of  the  influence  upon  his  life  of  Weems' 
''  Life  of  Washington,"  one  of  the  first  books  he 
ever  read.  The  audience  broke  into  cheers,  loud 
and  long,  when  he  appealed  to  them  to  stand  by 
him  in  the  discharge  of  his  patriotic  duty.  ''  I 
shall  endeavor,"  said  he,  "to  take  the  ground  I 
deem  most  just  to  the  North,  the  East,  the  West, 
the  South,  and  the  whole  country.  I  take  it,  I 
hope,  in  good  temper  ;  certainly  with  no  malice 
towards  any  section.  I  shall  do  all  that  may  be 
in  my  power  to  promote  a  peaceful  settlement  of 
all  our  difficulties.  The  man  does  not  live  who 
is  more  devoted  to  peace  than  I  am,  none  who 
would  do  more  to  preserve  it ;  but  it  may  be 
necessary  to  put  the  foot  down  firmly.  And  if  I 
do  my  duty  and  do  right,  you  will  sustain  me, 
will  vou  not  ? " 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  205 

At  Philadelphia  he  spoke  in  Independence  Hall 
on  Washington's  Birthday,  and  raised  a  flag. 
*'  Our  friends,"  he  said  of  it,  "  had  provided  a 
magnificent  flag  of  our  country.  They  had  ar- 
ranged it  so  that  I  was  given  the  honor  of  rais- 
ing it  to  the  head  of  its  staff.  And  when  it  went 
up,  I  was  pleased  that  it  went  to  its  place  by  the 
strength  of  my  own  feeble  arm.  When,  accord- 
ing to  the  arrangement,  the  cord  was  pulled,  and 
it  flaunted  gloriously  to  the  wind  without  an 
accident,  in  the  bright  glowing  sunshine  of  the 
morning,  I  could  not  help  hoping  that  there 
was  in  the  entire  success  of  that  beautiful  cere- 
mony at  least  something  of  an  omen  of  what  is 
to  come." 

On  this  very  day.  President  Buchanan,  in 
Washington  City,  was  apologizing  for  permitting 
the  American  flag  to  be  carried  at  the  head  of  a 
procession  that  was  marching  to  celebrate  the 
birthday  of  George  Washington  ! 

It  was  at  Philadelphia  that  matters  became 
more  exciting.  At  that  place  they  were  informed 
of  a  plot  to  assassinate  the  President  as  he  passed 
through  Baltimore.  This  information  came  to 
them  from  a  variety  of  sources  entirely  independ- 
ent, and  the  various  stories  so  nearly  agreed  in 
substance  that  they  could  not  be  disregarded. 


206  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Most  important  of  these  informants  was  Allan 
Pinkerton  of  Chicago,  one  of  the  most  famous 
detectives  in  the  world.  He  had  been  personally 
with  his  assistants  in  Baltimore  and  knew  the 
details  of  the  plot.  But  Lincoln  was  neither  sus- 
picious nor  timid,  and  was  therefore  disinclined 
to  pay  heed  to  the  warnings  of  Pinkerton. 

At  about  this  time  the  son  of  William  H.  Seward 
met  Lincoln  with  confidential  communications 
from  his  father.  This  gave  other  evidences  of 
this  plot,  gathered  by  some  detectives  from  New 
York  City.  These  two  sets  of  detectives  had 
worked  on  the  case,  each  party  entirely  ignorant 
of  the  other.  Both  got  specific  evidence  of  the 
plot. 

It  was  remembered,  too,  that  since  leaving 
Springfield  ten  days  before,  they  had  had  at  least 
two  escapes.  The  track  had  been  tampered  with 
in  a  manifest  attempt  to  wreck  the  train.  A 
hand  grenade  had  been  found  in  one  of  the  cars. 
It  is  not  likely  that  this  deadly  machine  was 
taken  on  the  train  merely  for  fun. 

The  members  of  the  party  were  deeply  concerned 
about  the  Baltimore  revelations.  But  it  was  hard 
to  get  Lincoln  to  take  them  seriously.  With 
difficulty  was  he  persuaded  to  follow  Pinkerton's 
plan  and  enter  Washington  secretly.     He  con- 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  207 

sented  to  do  this  really  out  of  consideration  for 
the  judgment  of  others,  not  that  he  shared  their 
apprehension.  On  one  thing,  however,  Lincoln 
was  firm.  He  had  made  certain  appointments 
for  speaking  en  route  which  he  would  not  aban- 
don. His  promise  had  been  given  and  would  be 
kept.  One  was  the  flag-raising  at  Philadelphia, 
narrated  above,  and  the  other  was  to  address  the 
legislature  at  Harris  burg.  "  Both  these  appoint- 
ments," said  he,  "I  will  keep  if  it  costs  me  my 
life."  These  words  suggest  that  he  may  have 
realized  more  of  the  danger  than  he  was  willing 
to  show. 

There  are  also  intimations  of  the  same  thing 
which  will  be  noticed  by  the  careful  reader  of  the 
speeches  at  Philadelphia  and  Harrisburg.  In 
declining  to  give  a  hint  of  the  details  of  his  pro- 
posed policy,  he  said  :  "It  were  useless  for  me  to 
speak  of  details  of  plans  now  ;  I  shall  speak  offi- 
cially next  Monday  week,  if  ever.  If  I  should 
not  speak  then,  it  were  useless  for  me  to  do  so 


now." 


Again  :  '*  If  this  country  cannot  be  saved  with- 
out giving  up  that  principle, — I  was  about  to  say 
that  I  would  rather  be  assassinated  on  this  spot 
than  surrender  it." 

And  finally  :  "I  may  have  said  something  in- 


208  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

discreet.  But  I  have  said  nothing  hut  what  I  am 
wilHng  to  live  by,  and,  if  it  be  the  pleasure  of 
Almighty  God,  die  by.''^ 

These  veiled  references  would  pass  unnoticed 
by  the  crowd,  but  they  would  be  perfectly  intel- 
ligible to  those  who  knew  of  the  warnings  that 
had  just  been  received.  Lincoln  was  not  in  the 
habit  of  using  such  phrases,  and  the  fact  that  he 
used  them  at  this  particular  time  can  hardly  be 
explained  as  a  mere  coincidence.  He  took  in  the 
situation,  and — except  for  keeping  the  engage- 
ments already  made — he  submitted  meekly  to 
Pinkerton's  plans. 

An  incident  occurred  at  Harrisburg  which 
made  a  great  stir  in  the  little  party.  This  was 
nothing  less  than  the  loss  of  the  manuscript  of 
the  inaugural  address.  This  precious  document 
the  President  himself  had  carried  in  a  satchel. 
This  satchel  he  had  given  to  his  son  Robert  to 
hold.  When  Robert  was  asked  for  it,  it  was 
missing.  He  ' '  thought  he  had  given  it  to  a 
waiter — or  somebody. "  This  was  one  of  the  rare 
occasions  on  which  Lincoln  lost  control  of  his 
temper,  and  for  about  one  minute  he  addressed 
the  careless  young  man  with  great  plainness  of 
speech. 

For  obvious  reasons  it  was  not  judicious  to  say 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  209 

much  about  this  loss.  The  President  applied  to 
Lamon  for  help.  "Lamon,"  he  whispered,  ''I 
have  lost  my  certificate  of  moral  character  written 
by  myself.  Bob  has  lost  my  gripsack  containing 
my  inaugural  address.  I  want  you  to  help  me 
find  it." 

Lamon,  who  knew  Lincoln  intimately,  said  that 
he  never  saw  him  so  much  annoyed,  nor,  for  the 
time,  so  angry.  If  the  address  were  to  be  pub- 
lished prematurely,  it  might  be  made  the  occasion 
of  a  vast  amount  of  mischief.  Then,  too,  it  was 
the  product  of  much  painstaking  thought  and 
he  had  no  duplicate  copy. 

Lincoln  and  Lamon  instituted  a  search  for  the 
missing  satchel  and  were  directed  to  the  baggage- 
room  of  the  hotel.  Here  they  spied  a  satchel 
that  looked  like  the  lost  one.  Lincoln  tried  the 
key.  It  fitted.  With  great  joy  he  opened  it,  and 
he  found  within  : — one  bottle  of  whisky,  one 
soiled  shirt,  and  several  paper  collars.  So  quickly 
from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous. 

A  little  later  the  right  satchel  was  found,  and 

was  not  again  entrusted  to  Robert.    The  President 

kept  it  in  his   own  hands.     After   the   nervous 

strain  was  over,  the  humor  of  the  situation  grew 

on  the  President,  and  it  reminded  him  of  a  little 

story. 
14 


210  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

A  man  had  saved  up  his  earnings  until  they 
reached  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars.  This 
was  deposited  for  safekeeping  in  a  bank.  The 
bank  failed  and  the  man  received  as  his  share,  ten 
per  cent,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars.  This  he 
deposited  in  another  bank.  The  second  bank  also 
failed  and  the  poor  fellow  again  received  ten  per 
cent,  or  fifteen  dollars.  When  this  remnant  of 
his  fortune  was  paid  over  to  him,  he  held  it  in  his 
hand,  looking  at  it  thoughtfully.  Finally  he 
said  :  "  Now,  I've  got  you  reduced  to  a  portable 
shape,  so  I'll  put  you  in  my  pocket. "  Suiting  the 
action  to  the  word,  Lincoln  took  his  "  certificate 
of  moral  character  "  from  the  satchel  and  care- 
fully put  it  in  the  inside  pocket  of  his  vest.  No 
further  mishap  came  to  that  document. 

The  journey  from  Harrisburg  to  Washington 
was  accomplished  as  planned,  with  the  assistance 
of  certain  officials  of  the  railway  and  telegraph 
companies.  First  all  the  wires  leading  out  of 
Harrisburg  were  cut,  so  that,  if  Lincoln's  depar- 
ture were  discovered,  the  news  could  not  be  com- 
municated by  telegraph.  Then,  after  the  recep- 
tion, Lincoln,  attended  by  Lamon,  left  the  hotel 
by  a  side  door  and  was  driven  to  the  railway 
station.  Here  they  found  waiting  a  special  train 
consisting  of  one  baggage  car  and  one  passenger 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  211 

car.  The  track  was  for  the  time  kept  entirely- 
clear  for  this  train.  Arriving  at  Philadelphia 
they  stopped  outside  the  station,  where  Pinkerton 
met  them  with  a  closed  carriage  in  readiness. 
They  were  driven  rapidly  across  the  city  to  the 
Washington  train  which  had  been  detained  a 
few  minutes  for  "  a  sick  passenger  and  one  at- 
tendant." They  entered  the  rear  door  of  the 
sleeping  car.  The  "'sick  passenger  "  went  to  his 
berth  at  once  and  the  attendant  gave  the  tickets 
to  the  conductor  who  did  not  even  see  the  "  sick 
passenger,"  and  who  did  not  dream  of  what  a 
precious  life  he  was  carrying.  They  arrived  at 
six  o'clock  in  the  morning  at  Washington  City, 
where  they  were  met  by  Seward  and  Washburn 
and  taken  to  Willard's  Hotel. 

The  rest  of  the  party  came  on  schedule  time. 
At  Baltimore  there  was  a  large  crowd  in  waiting, 
but  no  disturbance.  The  news  of  the  President's 
arrival  had  been  telegraphed  over  the  country, 
and  the  band  of  assassins  were  for  the  time  help- 
less. Their  intended  victim  had  escaped.  There 
was  no  reason  why  they  should  create  a  disturb- 
ance. 

Lincoln  always  regretted  this  "  secret  passage." 
He  later  came  to  discount  heavily  the  revelations 
of  a  professional  spy.     Long  after,  he  said:  "I 


212  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

did  not  then,  nor  do  I  now,  believe  I  should  have 
been  assassinated  had  I  gone  through  Baltimore 
as  first  contemplated,  but  I  thought  it  wise  to 
run  no  risk  where  no  risk  was  necessary. " 

It  is  positively  asserted  by  Lamon,  who  knew 
whereof  he  spake,  that  there  was  no  time,  from 
the  moment  of  leaving  Springfield  to  his  death, 
when  Lincoln  was  free  from  danger  of  murder. 
Yet  he  never  could  be  prevailed  on  to  accept  pre- 
cautions. What  were  the  reasons  for  his  apparent 
carelessness  ? 

It  is  almost  certain  that  he  realized,  more  than 
he  would  have  his  friends  know,  that  he  was 
surrounded  by  dangers.  He  probably  realized 
this  more  keenly  than  they  did.  They  could  locate 
specific  dangers,  but  no  man  ever  better  under- 
stood the  murderous  spirit  which  underlay  much 
of  the  hatred  towards  this  man  who  had  never 
harmed  a  human  being.  He  felt  that  an  escape 
from  one  danger  might  be  simply  running  into 
another  more  deadly.  It  was  like  dodging  bullets 
on  the  field  of  battle.  He,  better  than  they,  real- 
ized that  the  unseen  dangers  were  greater  than 
those  which  they  thought  they  had  discovered. 
The  only  way,  then,  was  to  go  straight  ahead  as 
if  unmindful  of  all  dangers. 
Then,  too,  though  Lincoln  could  understand 


JOURNEY  TO  WASHINGTON.  213 

dangers  in  the  abstract,  his  mind  did  not  seem  to 
be  able  to  individualize  them.  He  knew  full  well 
that  many  persons  wanted  to  kill  him,  but  when 
it  came  to  the  point  of  the  murder  being  done  by 
X,  or  Y,  or  Z,  he  did  not  believe  it  possible  that 
they  would  do  such  a  thing. 

These  explanations  are  suggested.  There  may 
be  others.  But  these  two  conflicting  and  para- 
doxical facts  must  be  kept  in  mind.  All  through 
his  public  life  he  was  oppressed  with  the  belief 
that  he  would  not  live  to  see  the  end  of  the 
national  crisis.  On  the  other  hand,  not  all  the 
importunities  of  his  most  devoted  friends  could 
persuade  him  to  guard  himself.  In  the  light  of 
what  we  now  know,  it  is  wonderful  that  he 
escaped  these  plots  for  more  than  four  years. 
Had  he  been  more  cautious,  he  might  not  have 
escaped  so  long.  At  the  same  time,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  had  he  heeded  the  last  caution  of 
his  devoted  friend,  he  would  not  have  been  shot 
in  1865. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  INAUGURATION. 

Beautiful  for  situation  and  beautiful  in  con- 
struction is  the  Washington  City  of  to-day.  But 
it  was  not  so  in  Lincoln's  day.  The  proper 
decoration  of  the  city  did  not  begin  until  Grant's 
administration.  In  1861  it  was  comparatively  a 
small  city.  Its  population  numbered  only  about 
65,000.  The  magnificent  modern  residences  had 
not  been  built.  The  houses  were  few,  low,  not 
handsome,  with  hideous  spaces  of  unimproved 
land  lying  between.  The  streets  were  not  paved 
with  asphalt.  Some  were  paved  with  cobble 
stones,  and  some  consisted  of  plain  aboriginal 
mud.  The  dome  of  the  Capitol  was  but  half 
finished  when  Lincoln  saw  it  for  the  first  time, 
and  the  huge  derrick  which  surmounted  it  was 
painfully  suggestive  of  the  gallows.  The  approach 
was  not  a  well-kept  lawn,  but  a  meadow  of  grass, 
ragged  and  ill-cared  for. 

Washington  society  was  then,  as  always,  com- 
posed of  people  of  education  and  social  culture, 
214 


THE  INAUGURATION.  215 

but  it  was  not  such  as  would  kindle  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  patriot.  From  the  time  whereof  the 
memory  of  man  runneth  not  to  the  contrary,  it 
had  been  dominated  by  the  slave  power.  The 
District  of  Columbia  is  situated  in  a  slave  state. 
The  politics  of  South  Carolina  and  Mississippi  had 
always  been  aggressive,  and  the  social  leadership 
had  been  the  same.  J.  G.  Holland  estimated  that 
not  more  than  one  in  five  of  the  people  in  Wash- 
ington in  the  winter  of  1860-61  were  glad  to  have 
Lincoln  come.  He  was  not  far  from  right. 
Lamon  called  the  city  "a  focus  of  political  in- 
trigue and  corruption." 

For  many  years,  specifically  since  1848,  the 
slave  power  had  been  masterful  in  Washington, 
while  its  despotic  temper  had  grown  continually 
more  assertive.  The  intellectual  and  moral  at- 
mosphere became  increasingly  repulsive  to  those 
who  believed  in  freedom,  and  such  people  would 
not  therefore  choose  that  city  as  a  place  of  resi- 
dence. 

The  departments  were  of  course  filled  with  em- 
ployees in  sympathy  with  slavery.  Pierce  had 
been  made  President  in  1853.  The  Missouri  Com- 
promise had  been  repealed  in  1854.  Buchanan 
came  into  office  in  1857.  The  crowning  act  of  his 
administration  was  supporting  the  Kansas  infamy 


216  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

in  1859.  From  these  indications  it  is  easy  to 
estimate  the  political  status  of  Washington  society 
when  Lincoln  entered  the  city  February  23,  1861. 
Many  thousands  of  his  friends  poured  in  from  all 
quarters  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  to  at- 
tend the  ceremonies  of  the  inaugural.  But  these 
were  transients,  and  foreign  to  the  prevailing 
sentiment  of  the  city. 

Every  official  courtesy,  however,  was  shown  to 
the  President-elect.  The  outgoing  President  and 
cabinet  received  him  politely.  He  had  many  sup- 
porters and  some  personal  friends  in  both  houses 
of  congress.  These  received  him  with  enthusi- 
asm, while  his  opponents  were  not  uncivil.  The 
members  of  the  Supreme  Court  greeted  him  with 
a  measure  of  cordiality.  Both  Douglas  and  Breck- 
inridge, the  defeated  candidates  at  the  late 
election,  called  on  him.  The  so-called  Peace 
Conference  had  brought  together  many  men  of 
local  influence,  who  seized  the  opportunity  of 
making  his  acquaintance.  So  the  few  days  passed 
busily  as  the  time  for  inauguration  approached. 

Of  course  anxiety  and  even  excitement  were 
not  unknown.  One  instance  is  enough  to  relate 
here.  Arrangements  were  about  concluded  for 
the  cabinet  appointments.  The  most  important 
selection   was  for  the  Secretary  of  State.     This 


THE  INAUGURATION.  217 

position  had  been  tendered  to  Seward  months 
before  and  had  by  him  been  accepted.  The  subse- 
quent selections  had  been  made  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  Seward  was  to  fill  this  position.  On  Satur- 
day, March  2d,  while  only  a  few  hours  remained 
before  the  inaugural,  Seward  suddenly  withdrew 
his  promised  acceptance.  This  utterly  upset  the 
balancings  on  which  Lincoln  had  so  carefully 
worked  for  the  last  four  months,  and  was  fitted  to 
cause  consternation,  Lincoln's  comment  was  : 
"I  can't  afford  to  have  Seward  take  the  first 
trick."  So  he  sent  him  an  urgent  personal  note  on 
the  morning  of  March  4th,  requesting  him  to 
withdraw  this  refusal.  Seward  acceded  to  this 
and  the  matter  was  arranged  satisfactorily. 

The  morning  of  the  day  of  the  inauguration 
was  clear,  mild,  beautiful.  The  military  display 
gave  a  bright  and  showy  appearance  to  the  scene. 
General  Scott  had  used  the  utmost  care  to  have 
the  arrangements  for  the  defense  of  the  President 
perfect.  There  were  guards  about  the  carriage, 
guards  about  the  Capitol,  a  flying  battery  upon 
a  commanding  hill.  Besides  this,  sharpshooters 
were  posted  on  the  roofs  of  the  houses  along  the 
route  of  travel,  with  injunctions  to  watch  nar- 
rowly the  windows  opposite  and  fire  upon  the 
first    manifestation    of    disorder.      One    cannot 


218  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

resist  the  temptation  to  speculate  upon  the  ex- 
citement that  would  have  developed  had  a  mis- 
chievous boy  set  off  a  large  fire-cracker  at  a 
critical  moment  ! 

Shortly  after  twelve  o'clock,  noon,  Buchanan 
called  to  escort  his  successor  to  the  Capitol,  The 
retiring  President  and  the  President-elect  rode 
side  by  side  through  the  streets.  Eeaching  the 
grounds  of  the  Capitol  they  found  an  improvised 
board  tunnel  through  which  they  walked  arm  in 
arm  to  the  building.  This  tunnel  had  been  con- 
structed to  guard  against  assassination,  of  which 
there  had  recently  been  many  threats.  They 
passed  through  the  senate  chamber  and  through 
the  building  to  the  large  platform  which  had 
been  erected  at  the  east  front.  The  procession 
was  headed  by  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court 
clothed  in  cap  and  gown. 

The  platform  was  densely  packed,  but  in  the 
number  there  were  four  men  of  especial  interest. 
When  Lincoln  had  first  been  nominated  for  the 
senate,  at  Springfield,  June  16,  1858,  he  made  the 
speech  which  came  to  be  known  as  "the  house- 
divided-against-itself  speech."  One  remarkable 
paragraph  is  here  quoted  : 

''We  cannot  absolutely  know  that  all  these 
exact  adaptations  are  the  result  of  preconcert. 


THE  INAUGURATION.  219 

But  when  we  see  a  lot  of  framed  timbers,  dif- 
ferent portions  of  which  we  know  have  been 
gotten  out  at  different  times  and  places  and  by 
different  workmen — Stephen,  Franklin,  Roger, 
and  James,  for  instance — and  when  we  see  these 
timbers  joined  together,  and  see  they  exactly 
make  the  frame  of  a  house  or  a  mill,  all  the 
tenons  and  mortices  exactly  fitting,  and  all  the 
lengths  and  proportions  of  the  different  pieces 
exactly  adapted  to  their  respective  places,  and 
not  a  piece  too  many  or  too  few — not  omitting 
even  scaffolding — or,  if  a  single  piece  be  lacking, 
we  see  the  place  in  the  frame  exactly  fitted  and 
prepared  yet  to  bring  the  piece  in — in  such  a  case, 
we  find  it  impossible  not  to  believe  that  Stephen 
and  Franklin  and  Roger  and  James  all  under- 
stood one  another  from  the  beginning,  and  all 
worked  upon  a  common  plan  or  draft  drawn 
up  before  the  first  blow  was  struck." 

The  manifest  reference  here  is  to  the  co-workers 
for  the  extension  of  slavery  :  namely,  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  Franklin  Pierce,  Roger  B.  Taney, 
and  James  Buchanan.  One  of  this  number, 
Franklin,  had  fallen  into  welcome  oblivion ; 
James  had  escorted  Lincoln  to  the  platform  ; 
Stephen  stood  immediately  behind  him,  alert  to 
show  him  any  courtesy  ;   and  Roger,    as  Chief 


220  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Justice,  was  about  to  administer  the  oath  of  ojQfice. 
It  was  a  rare  case  of  poetic  justice. 

Lincoln  was  introduced  to  the  vast  audience 
by  his  former  neighbor,  E.  D.  Baker,  at  this  time 
senator  from  Oregon.  In  one  hand  Lincoln  had 
his  silk  hat,  and  as  he  looked  about  for  a  place  to 
put  it,  his  old  antagonist,  Douglas,  took  it.  To 
a  lady  he  whispered  :  "If  I  can't  be  President,  I 
can  at  least  hold  the  President's  hat." 

The  inaugural  address  had  been  submitted 
confidentially  to  a  few  trusted  friends  for  criti- 
cism. The  only  criticisms  of  importance  were 
those  of  Seward.  By  these  Lincoln  was  guided 
but  not  governed.  A  perusal  of  the  documents 
will  show  that,  while  Seward's  suggestions  were 
unquestionably  good,  Lincoln's  finished  product 
was  far  better.  This  is  specifically  true  of  the 
closing  paragraph,  which  has  been  widely  admired 
for  its  great  beauty.  From  the  remarkable  ad- 
dress we  quote  only  two  passages.  In  the  first  he 
meets  the  charge  that  he  would  involve  the  coun- 
try in  war.     It  is  as  follows  : 

"I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  itself 
expressly  enjoins  upon  me,  that  the  laws  of 
the  Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the 
states.  Doing  this,  which  I  deem  to  be  only  a 
simple  duty  on  my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  per- 


THE  INAUGURATION.  221 

form  it,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  unless  my  right- 
ful masters,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold 
the  requisition,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner 
direct  the  contrary.  I  trust  this  will  not  be  re- 
garded as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the  declared 
purpose  of  the  Union  that  it  will  constitutionally 
defejid  and  maintain  itself. 

' '  In  doing  this,  there  need  be  no  bloodshed  or 
violence,  and  there  shall  be  none  unless  it  is 
forced  upon  the  national  authority.  The  power 
confided  to  me  will  he  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and 
possess  the  property  and  places  belonging  to  the 
government,  and  collect  the  duties  and  imposts. 
But  beyond  what  may  be  necessary  for  these  ob- 
jects there  will  be  no  invasion,  no  using  of  force 
against  or  among  the  people  anywhere." 

Concerning  the  clause  above  italicised  there 
was  a  general  questioning, — Does  he  mean  what 
he  says  ?  In  due  time  they  learned  that  he  meant 
what  he  said,  and  all  of  it. 

The  address  concluded  as  follows  : 

"In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-country- 
men, and  not  in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of 
civil  war.  The  government  will  not  assail  you. 
You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  your- 
selves the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  reg- 
istered  in  Heaven    to  destroy  the  government. 


222  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to  '  pre- 
serve, protect,  and  defend  '  it. 

"  I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but 
friends.  We  must  not  be  enemies.  Though 
passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break,  our 
bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  cords  of  memory, 
stretching  from  every  battle-field  and  patriot 
grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearthstone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  cliorus  of 
the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they 
will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 

The  address  was  listened  to  closely  throughout. 
Immediately  upon  its  conclusion  the  speaker  was 
sworn  into  office  by  Chief  Justice  Taney  whose 
name  is  connected  with  the  famous  Dred  Scott 
decision.  James  Buchanan  was  now  a  private 
citizen  and  the  pioneer  rail-splitter  was  at  the 
head  of  the  United  States. 

In  all  the  thousands  of  people  there  assembled, 
there  was  no  one  who  listened  more  intently  than 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.  At  the  conclusion  he 
warmly  grasped  the  President  hand's,  congratu- 
lated him  upon  the  inaugural,  and  pledged  him 
that  he  would  stand  by  him  and  support  him  in 
upholding  the  Constitution  and  enforcing  the 
laws.  The  nobler  part  of  the  nature  of  the 
"little  giant"  came  to  the  surface.     The  clear- 


THE  INAUGURATION.  223 

ness,  the  gentleness,  the  magnanimity,  the  man- 
liness expressed  in  this  inaugural  address  of  his 
old  rival,  won  him  over  at  last,  and  he  pledged 
him  here  his  fealty.  For  a  few  months,  while 
the  storm  was  brewing,  Douglas  was  inactive,  so 
that  his  influence  counted  on  the  side  of  the 
hostile  party,  the  party  to  which  he  had  always 
belonged.  But  when  war  actually  broke  out,  he 
hastened  to  stand  by  the  President,  and  right 
nobly  did  he  redeem  his  promise  which  he  had 
given.  Had  he  lived,  there  are  few  men  whose 
influence  would  have  been  more  weighty  in  the 
cause  of  the  Union.  An  untimely  death  cut 
him  off  at  the  beginning  of  this  patriotic  activity. 
His  last  public  act  was  to  address  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  Illinois  a  masterly  plea  for  the  support  of 
the  war  for  the  Union.  He  died  in  Chicago  on 
the  3d  of  June,  1861. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT. 

Had  the  question  been  asked  early  in  1861, 
Who  will  be  the  real  force  of  the  republican 
administration  ?  almost  every  unprejudiced  ob- 
server would  have  answered  promptly,  Seward. 
He  was  a  man  of  unusual  intellectual  powers,  of 
the  best  education,  and  of  the  finest  culture.  In 
regard  to  the  moral  aspects  of  politics,  he  was  on 
the  right  side.  He  had  a  career  of  brilliant  suc- 
cess extending  over  thirty  years  of  practical  ex- 
perience. He  had  been  governor  of  the  Empire 
State,  and  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the 
United  States  senate.  He  was  the  most  accom- 
plished diplomatist  of  the  day. 

In  marked  contrast  was  the  President-elect. 
He  had,  in  his  encounters  with  Douglas,  shown 
himself  a  master  of  debate.  But  his  actual  ex- 
perience of  administration  was  practically  nil. 
He  had  served  a  few  years  in  a  frontier  legisla- 
ture and  one  term  in  the  lower  house  of  congress. 
Only  this  and  nothing  more.  His  record  as  rep- 
resentative may  be  summarized  as  follows  : 
224 


LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT.  225 

1  comic  speech  on  General  Cass. 

1  set  of  humorous  resolutions,  known  as  the  spot 
resolutions. 

1  bill  in  reference  to  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, which  bill  failed  to  pass. 

There  was  thus  no  comparison  between  the 
careers  of  the  two  men.  Seward's  friends,  and 
Seward  himself,  assumed  as  a  self-evident  truth, 
that  "where  Seward  sits  is  the  head  of  the 
table."     Lincoln  did  not  assent  to  this  proposition. 

He  considered  himself  President  and  head  of 
the  cabinet.  How  the  matter  came  out  will 
appear  later  in  the  chapter. 

The  selection  of  a  cabinet  was  a  difficult  and 
delicate  task.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
Lincoln  confronted  a  solid  South,  backed  by  a 
divided  North.  It  has  already  been  said  that  in 
fifteen  states  he  received  not  a  single  electoral 
vote,  and  iii  ten  of  these  not  a  single  popular 
vote.     That  was  the  solid  South. 

The  divided  condition  of  the  North  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  following  letter,  written  by  ex- 
President  Franklin  Pierce  to  Jefferson  Davis 
under  date  of  January  6,  1860  : 

"  If,  through  the  madness  of  Northern  aboli- 
tionists, that  dire  calamity  [the  disruption  of  the 
15 


226  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Union]  must  come,  the  fighting  will  not  be 
along  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  merely.  It  will  be 
within  our  otun  borders,  in  our  own  streets, 
between  the  two  classes  of  citizens  to  whom  I 
have  referred.  Those  who  defy  law,  and  scout 
constitutional  obligation,  will,  if  we  ever  reach 
the  arbitrament  of  arms,  find  occupation  enough 
at  home." 

It  is  plain  that  unless  Lincoln  could,  in  a  large 
measure,  unite  the  various  classes  of  the  North, 
his  utter  failure  would  be  a  foregone  conclusion. 
He  saw  this  with  perfect  clearness.  His  first 
move  was  in  the  selection  of  his  cabinet.  These 
selections  were  taken  not  only  from  the  various 
geographical  divisions  of  the  country,  but  also 
from  the  divers  political  divisions  of  the  party. 
It  was  not  his  purpose  to  have  the  secretaries 
simply  echoes  of  himself,  but  able  and  representa- 
tive men  of  various  types  of  political  opinion. 
At  the  outset  this  did  not  meet  the  approval  of 
his  friends.  Later,  its  wisdom  was  apparent.  In 
the  more  than  a  hundred  years  of  cabinets  in  the 
history  of  the  United  States  there  has  never  been 
an  abler  or  a  purer  cabinet  than  this. 

As  guesses,  more  or  less  accurate,  were  made 
as  to  what  the  cabinet  would  be,  many  "leading 
citizens  "  felt  called  on  to  labor  with  the  President 


LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT.  227 

and  show  him  the  error  of  his  ways.  As  late  as 
March  2d  there  was  an  outbreak  against  Chase. 
A  self-appointed  committee,  large  in  numbers 
and  respectable  in  position,  called  on  Lincoln  to 
protest  vigorously.  He  heard  them  with  un- 
divided attention.  When  they  were  through  he 
replied.  In  voice  of  sorrow  and  disappointment, 
he  said,  in  substance:  "I  had  written  out  my 
choice  and  selection  of  members  for  the  cabinet 
after  most  careful  and  deliberate  consideration  ; 
and  now  you  are  here  to  tell  me  I  must  break  the 
slate  and  begin  the  thing  all  over  again.  I  don't 
like  your  list  as  well  as  mine.  I  had  hoped  to 
have  Mr.  Seward  as  Secretary  of  State  and  Mr. 
Chase  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  But  of 
course  I  can't  expect  to  have  things  just  as  I 
want  them.  .  .  .  This  being  the  case,  gentlemen, 
how  would  it  do  for  us  to  agree  to  a  change  like 
this  ?  To  appoint  Mr.  Chase  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  and  offer  the  State  department  to  Mr. 
Dayton  of  New  Jersey  ? 

' '  Mr.  Dayton  is  an  old  whig,  like  Mr.  Seward 
and  myself.  Besides,  he  is  from  New  Jersey, 
which  is  next  door  to  New  York.  Then  Mr. 
Seward  can  go  to  England,  where  his  genius  will 
find  wonderful  scope  in  keeping  Europe  straight 
about  our  troubles." 


228  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

The  "  committee  "  were  astounded.  They  saw 
their  mistake  in  meddHng  in  matters  they  did  not 
understand.  They  were  glad  enough  to  back  out 
of  the  awkward  situation.  Mr.  Lincoln  "took 
that  trick." 

The  names  sent  on  March  5th  were  :  for  Secre- 
tary of  State,  William  H.  Seward,  of  New  York  ; 
for  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
of  Ohio  ;  for  Secretary  of  War,  Simon  Cameron,  of 
Pennsylvania  ;  for  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Gideon 
Welles,  of  Connecticut ;  for  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  Caleb  B.  Smith  of  Indiana  ;  for  Attorney- 
General,  Edward  Bates,  of  Missouri ;  for  Post- 
master-General, Montgomery  Blair,  of  Maryland. 

All  these  names  were  confirmed  by  the  senate 
the  next  day,  March  6th.  Of  the  variety  of  the 
selection  he  said,  "  I  need  them  all.  They  enjoy 
the  confidence  of  their  several  states  and  sections, 
and  they  will  strengthen  the  administration. 
The  times  are  too  grave  and  perilous  for  ambitious 
schemes  and  rivalries."  To  all  who  were  as- 
sociated with  him  in  the  government,  he  said, 
''Let  us  forget  ourselves  and  join  hands,  like 
brothers,  to  save  the  republic.  If  we  succeed, 
there  will  be  glory  enough  for  all."  He  playfully 
spoke  of  this  cabinet  as  his  happy  family. 

The  only  one  who  withdrew  early  from  this 


LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT.  229 

number,  was  Cameron,  He  was  accused  of 
various  forms  of  corruption,  especially  of  giving 
fat  government  contracts  to  his  friends.  Whether 
these  charges  were  true  or  not,  we  cannot  say. 
But  in  the  following  January  he  resigned  and 
was  succeeded  by  Edwin  M.  Stanton,  a  lifelong 
democrat,  one  who  had  accepted  office  under 
Buchanan.  Probably  no  person  was  more  amazed 
at  this  choice  than  Stanton  himself.  But  he 
patriotically  accepted  the  call  of  duty.  With 
unspeakable  loyalty  and  devotion  he  served  his 
chief  and  his  country  to  the  end. 

As  has  already  been  indicated,  Seward  cheer- 
fully assumed  that  he  was  the  government,  while 
Lincoln's  duties  were  to  consist  largely  in  signing 
such  papers  as  he  instructed  him  to  sign.  As 
difficulties  grew  fast  and  thick,  he  wrote  home, 
"These  cares  fall  chiefly  on  me."  Mr.  Welles 
wrote  that  confidence  and  mutual  frankness 
existed  among  all  the  members  of  the  cabinet, 
"  with  the  exception  of  Mr.  Seward,  who  had,  or 
affected,  a  mysterious  knowledge  which  he  was 
not  prepared  to  impart."  He  went  so  far  as  to 
meddle  with  the  affairs  of  his  associates.  He  did 
not  entirely  approve  of  the  cabinet  meetings  and 
served  notice  that  he  would  attend  only  upon 
special  summons  of  the  President. 


230  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  condition  reached  its  climax  on  the  first 
day  of  April,  an  appropriate  date.  Seward  ad- 
dressed on  that  day  a  document  entitled,  "  Some 
Thoughts  for  the  President's  Consideration,  April 
1,  1861." 

Henry  Watterson  said  that  Seward  could  not 
have  spoken  more  explicitly  and  hardly  more 
offensively  if  he  had  simply  said  :  "Mr.  Lincoln, 
you  are  a  failure  as  President,  hut  turn  over  the 
direction  of  affairs  exclusively  to  me,  and  all 
shall  be  well  and  all  be  forgiven."  This  state- 
ment gives  a  fair  and  truthful  idea  of  Seward's 
letter.  It  is  not  likely  that  its  amazing  assur- 
ance has  ever  been  equaled  in  any  nation  by 
"thoughts"  addressed  by  an  inferior  officer  to 
his  chief.  The  paper  itself  is  here  omitted  from 
lack  of  space,  but  its  tenor  can  be  guessed  from 
the  character  of  the  reply,  which  is  given  in 
full : 

Executive  Mansion,  April  1, 1861. 

"Hon.  W.  H.  Seward, 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  Since  parting  with  you  I  have 
been  considering  your  paper  dated  this  day,  and 
entitled  '  Some  Thoughts  for  the  President's  Con- 
sideration.'    The  first  proposition  in  it  is,  ^  First, 


LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT.  231 

We  are  at  the  end  of  a  month's  administration, 
and  yet  without  a  policy  either  domestic  or 
foreign.' 

"  At  the  beginning  of  that  month,  in  the  in- 
augural, I  said,  '  The  power  confided  to  me  will 
be  used  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property 
and  places  belonging  to  the  Government,  and  to 
collect  the  duties  and  imposts,'  This  had  your 
distinct  approval  at  the  time  ;  and,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  the  order  I  immediately  gave  Gen- 
eral Scott,  directing  him  to  employ  every  means 
in  his  power  to  strengthen  and  hold  the  forts, 
comprises  the  exact  domestic  policy  you  now  urge, 
with  the  single  exception  that  it  does  not  propose 
to  abandon  Fort  Sumter. 

"Again,  I  do  not  perceive  how  the  reinforce- 
ment of  Fort  Sumter  would  be  done  on  a  slavery 
or  party  issue,  while  that  of  Fort  Pickens  would 
be  on  a  more  national  and  patriotic  one. 

"  The  news  received  yesterday  in  regard  to  St. 
Domingo  certainly  brings  a  new  item  within  the 
range  of  our  foreign  policy  ;  but  up  to  that  time 
we  have  been  preparing  circulars  and  instruc- 
tions to  ministers  and  the  like,  all  in  perfect 
harmony,  without  even  a  suggestion  that  we  had 
no  foreign  policy. 

"  Upon  3'^our  closing  propositions  that  '  what- 


232  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ever  policy  we  adopt,  there  must  be  an  energetic 
prosecution  of  it, 

"  '  For  this  purpose  it  must  be  somebody's  busi- 
ness to  pursue  and  direct  it  incessantly, 

"  '  Either  the  President  must  do  it  himself,  and 
be  all  the  while  active  in  it,  or 

'' '  Devolve  it  on  some  member  of  his  cabinet. 
Once  adopted,  debates  on  it  must  end,  and  all 
agree  and  abide.' 

"  I  remark  that  if  this  must  be  done,  I  must  do 
it.  When  a  general  line  of  policy  is  adopted,  I 
apprehend  there  is  no  danger  of  its  being  changed 
without  good  reason  or  continuing  to  be  a  subject 
of  unnecessary  debate  ;  still,  upon  points  arising 
in  its  progress  I  wish,  and  suppose,  I  am  entitled 
to  have  the  advice  of  all  the  cabinet. 


a 


Your  ob't  serv't, 

"A.  LmcoLN." 

The  courtesy,  the  convincing  logic,  the  spirit 
of  forbearance  shown  in  this  letter,  were  char- 
acteristic of  the  man  at  the  helm.  It  need  hardly 
be  said  that  Seward  never  again  tried  the  experi- 
ment of  patronizing  his  chief.  He  saw  a  great 
light.  He  suddenly  realized  that  these  cares  did 
not  fall  chiefly  on  him. 

So  far  as  is  known,  neither  gentleman  ever 


LINCOLN  HIS  OWN  PRESIDENT.  233 

made  any  reference  to  this  correspondence. 
The  result  was  worth  while.  It  bound  Seward 
to  his  President  with  hoops  of  steel.  For  four 
long,  weary,  trying  years  he  served  his  chief  with 
a  loyal  devotion  which  did  credit  to  both  men. 
Thus  the  hallucination  that  he  was  premier  was 
forever  dispelled.  The  "Public  Man"  wrote  : 
"  There  can  be  no  doubt  of  it  any  longer.  This 
man  from  Illinois  is  not  in  the  hands  of  Mr. 
Seward." 

There  was  surely  no  doubt  of  it.  Lincoln  was 
President.  In  the  councils,  the  place  where 
Lincoln  sat  was  the  head  of  the  table,  Seward 
was  his  secretary.  And  a  good  secretary  he  was, 
as  well  as  a  true  man. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

FORT  SUMTER. 

The  events  connected  with  the  fall  of  Fort 
Sumter  were  so  dramatic  that  that  name  is  in 
memory  linked  with,  and  stands  for,  the  opening 
of  the  war.  The  fort  was  not  a  large  military- 
structure.  The  number  of  men  defending  it  was 
not  great.  But  the  events  connected  with  it  were 
great.  It  stood  as  the  representative  of  great 
principles  and  facts.  The  firing  on  it  marked  an 
epoch  in  the  same  sense  as  Caesar's  crossing  the 
Rubicon.  It  is  vitally  connected  with  events  that 
precede  and  follow. 

Wendell  Phillips  says  that  when  Charles  Sum- 
ner entered  the  senate,  free  speech  could  hardly 
be  said  to  exist  there.  To  him,  as  much  as  to 
any  man,  was  due  the  breaking  of  the  chain  that 
fettered  free  speech.  On  all  important  subjects 
he  spoke  his  mind  eloquently  and  in  words  that 
were  not  ambiguous.  In  August,  1852,  he  made 
a  speech — the  more  accurate  phrase  would  be,  he 
delivered  an  oration — under  the  title,  ' '  Freedom 

National,  Slavery  Sectional."    It  may  easily  be 

234 


FORT  SUMTER.  235 

guessed  that  this  highly  incensed  the  slave  power 
and  the  fire-eaters  never  outgrew  their  hatred  of 
the  Massachusetts  senator. 

In  May,  1856,  he  delivered  an  excoriating  ad- 
dress upon  ''the  Crime  against  Kansas."  This 
greatly  angered  the  southern  congressmen. 
After  the  senate  had  adjourned,  Sumner  was 
seated  at  his  desk  writing.  Preston  S.  Brooks,  of 
South  Carolina,  approached  from  the  rear  and 
with  a  heavy  cane  began  to  beat  Sumner  on  the 
head.  He  was  not  only  defenseless,  but,  though  a 
powerful  man  in  body,  was  to  a  certain  extent  held 
down  by  his  desk,  and  it  was  only  as  he  wrenched 
the  desk  from  the  floor  that  he  was  able  to  rise. 
The  beating  had  been  terrible  and  Sumner  suf- 
fered from  it,  often  with  the  most  excruciating 
pains,  until  the  day  of  his  death.  This  ruffian 
attack  was  by  a  large  portion  of  the  North  looked 
on  as  an  exhibition  of  southern  chivalry,  so  called, 
and  not  entirely  without  reason  as  the  sequel 
showed.  Congress  censured  Brooks  by  a  divided 
vote.  He  resigned  but  was  reelected  by  his  con- 
stituents with  great  enthusiasm.  Thus  his  act 
was  by  them  adopted  as  representative  of  their 
spirit  and  temper.     This  was  his  "  vindication." 

South  Carolina  was  the  first  state  to  secede, 
and  since  Fort    Sumter  commanded  Charleston 


236  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Harbor,  it  instantly  became  the  focus  of  national 
interest.  Tlie  Secretary  of  War,  Floyd,  had  so 
dispersed  the  little  army  of  the  United  States 
that  it  was  impossible  to  command  the  few 
hundred  men  necessary  adequately  to  garrison 
the  United  States  forts.  As  matters  in  and  about 
Charleston  grew  threatening,  Major  Anderson, 
who  was  in  command  of  the  twin  forts,  Moultrie 
and  Sumter,  decided  to  abandon  the  former  and 
do  his  utmost  to  defend  the  latter.  The  removal 
was  successfully  accomplished  in  the  night,  and 
when  the  fact  was  discovered  it  was  greeted  by 
the  South  Carolinians  with  a  howl  of  baffled 
wrath.  Buchanan  had  endeavored  to  send  pro- 
visions. The  steamer.  Star  of  the  West,  had  gone 
there  for  that  purpose,  but  had  been  fired  on  by 
the  South  Carolinians  and  forced  to  abandon  the 
attempt. 

When  Lincoln  took  the  government  at  Wash- 
ington, it  may  well  be  believed  that  he  found 
matters  in  a  condition  decidedly  chaotic.  His 
task  was  many  sided,  a  greater  task  than  that  of 
Washington  as  he  had  justly  said.  First,  of  the 
fifteen  slave  states  seven  had  seceded.  It  was 
his  purpose  to  hold  the  remaining  eight,  or  as 
many  of  them  as  possible.  Of  this  number, 
Delaware  and  Maryland  could  have  been  held  by 


FORT  SUMTER.  237 

force.  Kentucky  and  Missouri,  though  slave 
states,  remained  in  the  Union.  The  Union  party 
in  Tennessee,  under  the  lead  of  Andrew  Johnson, 
made  a  strong  fight  against  secession,  but  failed 
to  prevent  the  ordinance. 

The  next  task  of  Lincoln  was  to  unite  the  North 
as  far  as  possible.  The  difficulty  of  doing  this 
has  already  been  set  forth.  On  the  other  hand 
there  was  in  the  North  a  sentiment  that  had  been 
overlooked.  It  was  devotion  to  the  flag.  Ben- 
jamin F.  Butler,  though  an  ardent  democrat,  had 
cautioned  his  southern  brethren  that  while  they 
might  count  on  a  large  pro-slavery  vote  in  the 
North,  war  was  a  different  matter.  The  moment 
you  fire  on  the  flag,  he  said,  you  unite  the 
North  ;  and  if  war  comes,  slavery  goes. 

Not  the  least  task  of  the  President  was  in  deal- 
ing with  foreign  nations.  The  sympathies  of 
these,  especially  England  and  France,  were 
ardently  with  the  South.  They  would  eagerly 
grasp  at  the  slightest  excuse  for  acknowledging 
the  Southern  Confederacy  as  an  independent 
nation.  It  was  a  delicate  and  difficult  matter  so 
to  guide  affairs  that  the  desired  excuse  for  this 
could  not  be  found. 

The  tactics  of  the  southerners  were  exceedingly 
exasperating.      They  kept   "envoys "in  Wash- 


238  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ington  to  treat  with  the  government.  Of  course 
these  were  not  officially  received.  Lincoln  sent 
them  a  copy  of  his  inaugural  address  as  contain- 
ing a  sufficient  answer  to  their  questions.  But 
they  stayed  on,  trying  to  spy  out  the  secrets  of  the 
government,  trying  to  get  some  sort  of  a  pledge 
of  conciliation  from  the  administration,  or,  what 
would  equally  serve  the  purpose,  to  exasperate 
the  administration  into  some  unguarded  word  or 
act.     Their  attempts  were  a  flat  failure. 

Lincoln  lield  steadily  to  the  two  promises  of  his 
inaugural.  First,  that  he  would  hold  the  United 
States  forts,  and  second,  that  he  would  not  be 
the  aggressor.  "  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied 
fellow-countrymen,  and  not  in  mine,  is  the  mo- 
mentous issue  of  civil  war.  The  government 
will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict 
without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You 
have  no  oath  registered  in  heaven  to  destroy  the 
government  ;  while  I  have  the  most  solemn  one 
to  '  preserve,  protect,  and  defend '  it." 

To  this  plan  he  adhered.  If  there  was  to  be 
war  it  must  be  begun  by  the  enemies  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  government  would  patiently  bear  out- 
rages rather  than  do  a  thing  which  could  be 
tortured  into  an  appearance  of  'invading  the 
South  '  or  being  an  aggressor  of  any  sort. 


FORT  SUMTER.  239 

Meanwhile,  Major  Anderson  was  beleaguered 
in  Fort  Sumter.  He  had  a  handful  of  men,  Y6 
combatants  and  128  all  told.  He  had  insufficient 
ammunition  and  was  nearly  out  of  provisions. 
Lincoln  at  last  concluded  to  "send  bread  to 
Sumter," — surely  not  a  hostile  act.  Owing  to 
complications  which  he  inherited  from  Buchan- 
an's administration  he  had  given  to  Governor 
Pickens,  of  South  Carolina,  a  promise  that  he 
would  not  attempt  to  relieve  Sumter  without 
first  giving  him  notice.  He  now  sent  him  notice 
that  there  would  be  an  attempt  to  provision 
Sumter  peaceably  if  possible,  or  otherwise  by 
force. 

All  this  while  the  southerners  were  busy  per- 
fecting their  fortifications,  which  were  now  over- 
whelmingly better,  both  in  number  and  in  com- 
pleteness of  appointment,  than  the  one  fort  held 
by  the  United  States  that  rightfully  controlled 
the  entire  harbor.  General  Beauregard  was  in 
command  of  the  military  forces.  He  sent  to 
Major  Anderson  a  summons  to  surrender.  The 
latter  replied  that  if  he  received  from  Washing- 
ton no  further  direction,  and  if  he  was  not  suc- 
cored by  the  15th  of  the  month,  April,  he  would 
surrender  on  honorable  terms.  It  is  character- 
istic of  the  southern  general  that  he  intercepted 


240  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Major  Anderson's  mail  before  notifying  him  of 
hostilities.  It  is  characteristic  of  Lincoln  that 
he  sent  notice  to  Governor  Pickens  of  the  in- 
tended provision  of  the  fort. 

On  Friday,  April  12th,  1861,  at  3:30  P.  M., 
General  Beauregard  gave  notice  to  Major  Ander- 
son that  he  would  open  fire  on  Fort  Sumter  in 
one  hour.  Promptly  at  the  minute  the  first  gun 
was  fired  and  the  war  had  begun.  Batteries 
from  various  points  poured  shot  and  shell  into 
Sumter  until  nightfall  caused  a  respite. 

The  little  garrison  sat  up  half  the  night  after 
the  attack,  as  they  had  done  the  preceding  night, 
and  with  their  six  needles,  all  they  had,  made 
cartridges  out  of  old  blankets,  old  clothing,  and 
whatever  else  they  could  lay  hands  on.  These 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  men  made  all  the 
defense  that  could  be  made  under  the  circum- 
stances. 

The  next  day  the  officer's  quarters  were  set  on 
fire  either  by  an  exploding  shell  or  by  hot  shot. 
The  men  fought  the  flames  gallantly,  but  the 
wind  was  unfavorable.  Then  the  water  tanks 
were  destroyed.  As  the  flames  approached  the 
magazine,  the  powder  had  to  be  removed.  As 
the  flames  approached  the  places  where  the  powder 
was  newly  stored,  it  had  to  be  thrown  into  the 


FORT  SUMTER.  241 

sea  to  prevent  explosion.  In  the  mean  time  the 
stars  and  stripes  were  floating  gloriously.  The 
flag  pole  had  been  struck  seven  times  on  Friday. 
It  was  struck  three  times  the  next  day.  The 
tenth  shot  did  the  work,  the  pole  broke  and  the 
flag  fell  to  the  ground  at  one  o'clock  Saturday 
afternoon.  An  officer  and  some  men  seized  the 
flag,  rigged  up  a  jury-mast  on  the  parapet,  and 
soon  it  was  flying  again. 

But  ammunition  was  gone,  the  fire  was  not 
extinguished,  and  there  was  no  hope  of  relief. 
Negotiations  were  opened  and  terms  of  surrender 
were  arranged  by  eight  o'clock  that  evening. 
The  next  day,  Sunday,  April  14th,  the  garrison 
saluted  the  flag  as  it  was  lowered,  and  then 
marched  out,  prisoners  of  war.  Sumter  had 
fallen. 

Beauregard  was  a  military  man,  Lincoln  was 
a  statesman.  The  general  got  the  fort,  the 
President  got  nearly  everything  else.  The  war 
was  on  and  it  had  been  begun  by  the  South. 
The  administration  had  not  invaded  or  threatened 
invasion,  but  the  South  had  fired  on  the  flag. 
Dearly  they  paid  for  this  crime. 

The  effect  of  the  fall  of  Sumter  was  amazing. 

In  the  South  it  was  hailed  with  ecstatic  delight, 

especially  in  Charleston.     There  was  a  papular 
i6 


242  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

demonstration  at  Montgomery,  Ala.,  the  pro- 
visional seat  of  the  Confederate  government. 
L.  P.  Walker,  Confederate  Secretary  of  War, 
made  a  speech  and,  among  other  things,  said 
that  "while  no  man  could  tell  where  the  war 
would  end,  he  would  prophesy  that  the  flag 
which  now  flaunts  the  breeze  here,  would  float 
over  the  dome  of  the  old  Capitol  at  Washington 
before  the  end  of  May,"  and  that  "it  might 
eventually  float  over  Fanueil  Hall  itself."  The 
Confederate  government  raised  a  loan  of  eight 
millions  of  dollars  and  Jefferson  Davis  issued 
letters  of  marque  to  all  persons  who  might  desire 
to  aid  the  South  and  at  the  same  time  enrich 
themselves  by  depredations  upon  the  commerce 
of  the  United  States. 

The  effect  upon  the  North  was  different. 
There  was  a  perfect  storm  of  indignation  against 
the  people  who  had  presumed  to  fire  on  the  flag. 
Butler's  prediction  proved  to  be  nearly  correct. 
This  did  unite  the  North  in  defense  of  the  flag. 
Butler  was  a  conspicuous  example  of  this  effect. 
Though  a  Breckinridge  democrat,  he  promptly 
offered  his  services  for  the  defense  of  the  country, 
and  throughout  the  war  he  had  the  distinction 
of  being  hated  by  the  South  with  a  more  cordial 
hatred  than  any  other  Union  general. 


FORT  SUMTER.  243 

It  was  recollected  throughout  the  North  that 
Lincoln  had  been  conciliatory  to  a  fault  towards 
the  South.  Conciliation  had  failed  because  that 
was  not  what  the  South  wanted.  They  wanted 
war  and  by  them  was  war  made.  This  put  an 
end  forever  to  all  talk  of  concession  and  compro- 
mise. Douglas  was  one  of  the  many  whose  voice 
called  in  trumpet  tones  to  the  defense  of  the 
flag. 

At  the  date  of  the  fall  of  Sumter,  Lincoln  had 
been  in  office  less  than  six  weeks.  In  addition 
to  routine  work,  to  attending  to  extraordinary 
calls  in  great  numbers,  he  had  accomplished 
certain  very  important  things :  He  had  the 
loyal  devotion  of  a  cabinet  noted  for  its  ability 
and  diversity.  He  had  the  enthusiastic  confi- 
dence of  the  doubtful  minds  of  the  North.  He 
had  made  it  impossible  for  the  European  mon- 
archies to  recognize  the  South  as  a  nation.  So 
far  as  our  country  was  concerned,  he  might  ask 
for  anything,  and  he  would  get  what  he  asked. 
These  were  no  mean  achievements.  The  far-see- 
ing statesman  had  played  for  this  and  had  won. 

Beauregard  got  the  fort,  but  Lincoln  got  the 
game.     In  his  own  words,  "he  took /M^  trick." 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

THE   OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM. 

The  fall  of  Sumter  caused  au  outburst  of 
patriotism  through  the  entire  North  such  as  is  not 
witnessed  many  times  in  a  century.  On  Sunday 
morning,  April  14th,  it  was  known  that  terms  of 
surrender  had  been  arranged.  On  that  day  and 
on  many  succeeding  Sundays  the  voices  from  a 
thousand  pulpits  sounded  with  the  certainty  of 
the  bugle,  the  call  to  the  defense  of  the  flag. 
Editors  echoed  the  call.  Such  newspapers  as 
were  suspected  of  secession  tendencies  were  com- 
pelled to  hoist  the  American  flag.  For  the  time 
at  least,  enthusiasm  and  patriotism  ran  very 
high.  Those  who  were  decidedly  in  sympathy 
with  the  South  remained  quiet,  and  those  who 
were  of  a  doubtful  mind  were  swept  along  with 
the  tide  of  popular  feeling.  The  flag  had  been 
fired  on.     That  one  fact  unified  the  North. 

On  that  same  evening  Senator  Douglas  ar- 
ranged  for  a  private  interview  with  President 

Lincoln.     For  two  hours  these  men,  rivals  and 

244 


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Ui 

Q 

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o 

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a> 
X 


THE  OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM.  245 

antagonists  of  many  years,  were  in  confidential 
conversation.  What  passed  between  them  no 
man  knows,  but  the  result  of  the  conference  was 
quickly  made  public.  Douglas  came  out  of  the 
room  as  determined  a  ''  war  democrat"  as  could 
be  found  between  the  oceans.  He  himself  pre- 
pared a  telegram  which  was  everywhere  pub- 
lished, declaring  that  he  would  sustain  the  Presi- 
dent in  defending  the  constitution. 

Lincoln  had  prepared  his  call  for  Y5,000  volun- 
teer troops.  Douglas  thought  the  number  should 
have  been  200,000.  So  it  should,  and  so  doubt- 
less it  would,  had  it  not  been  for  certain  iniqui- 
ties of  Buchanan's  maladministration.  There 
were  no  arms,  accouterments,  clothing.  Floyd 
had  well-nigh  stripped  the  northern  arsenals. 
Lincoln  could  not  begin  warlike  preparations  on 
any  great  scale  because  that  was  certain  to  pre- 
cipitate the  war  which  he  so  earnestly  strove  to 
avoid. 

Further,  the  75,000  was  about  five  times  the 
number  of  soldiers  then  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States.  Though  the  number  of  volunteers  was 
small,  their  proportion  to  the  regular  army  was 
large. 

That  night  Lincoln's  call  and  Douglas's  endorse- 
ment were  sent  over  the  wires.     Next  morning 


246  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  two  documents  were  published  in  every  daily 
paper  north  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line. 

The  call  for  volunteer  soldiers  was  in  the  South 
greeted  with  a  howl  of  derision.  They  knew 
how  the  arsenals  had  been  stripped.  They  had 
also  for  years  been  quietly  buying  up  arms  not 
only  from  the  North,  but  also  from  various 
European  nations.  They  had  for  many  years 
been  preparing  for  just  this  event,  and  now  that 
it  came  they  were  fully  equipped.  During  the 
first  months  of  the  war  the  administration  could 
not  wisely  make  public  how  very  poorly  the 
soldiers  were  armed,  for  this  would  only  discour- 
age the  defenders  of  the  Union  and  cheer  the 
enemy. 

This  call  for  troops  met  with  prompt  response. 
The  various  governors  of  the  northern  states 
offered  many  times  their  quota.  The  first  in  the 
field  was  Massachusetts.  This  was  due  to  the 
foresight  of  ex-Governor  Banks.  He  had  for 
years  kept  the  state  militia  up  to  a  high  degree 
of  efficiency.  When  rallied  upon  this  he  ex- 
plained that  it  was  to  defend  the  country  against 
a  rebellion  of  the  slaveholders  which  was  sure  to 
come. 

The  call  for  volunteers  was  published  on  the 
morning  of  April  15th.     By  ten  o'clock  the  6th 


THE  OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM.  24:7 

Massachusetts  began  to  rendezvous.  In  less  than 
thirty-six  hours  the  regiment  was  ready  and  off 
for  Washington.  They  were  everywhere  cheered 
with  much  enthusiasm.  In  New  York  they  were 
guests  of  the  Astor  House,  whose  patriotic  pro- 
prietor would  receive  no  compensation  from  the 
defenders  of  the  flag. 

The  reception  in  Baltimore  was  of  a  very  dif- 
ferent sort.  Some  ruffians  of  that  city  had 
planned  to  assassinate  Lincoln  in  February,  and 
now  they  in  large  numbers  prepared  to  attack  the 
soldiers  who  were  hastening  to  the  defense  of  the 
national  capital.  Here  was  the  first  bloodshed 
of  the  war.  The  casualties  were  four  killed  and 
thirty-six  wounded.  When  the  regiment  reached 
Washington  City,  the  march  from  the  railway 
station  was  very  solemn.  Behind  the  march- 
ing soldiers  followed  the  stretchers  bearing  the 
wounded.  The  dead  had  been  left  behind.  Gov- 
ernor Andrew's  despatch  to  Mayor  Brown, — 
"Send  them  home  tenderly," — elicited  the  sym- 
pathy of  millions  of  hearts. 

The  mayor  of  Baltimore  and  the  governor  of 
Maryland  sent  a  deputation  to  Lincoln  to  ask 
that  no  more  troops  be  brought  through  that  city. 
The  President  made  no  promise,  but  he  said  he 
was  anxious  to  avoid  all  friction  and  he  would  do 


248  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  best  he  could.  He  added  playfully  that  if  he 
granted  that,  they  would  be  back  next  day  to  ask 
that  no  troops  be  sent  around  Baltimore. 

That  was  exactly  what  occurred.  The  com- 
mittee were  back  the  next  day  protesting  against 
permitting  any  troops  to  cross  the  state  of  Mary- 
land. Lincoln  replied  that,  as  they  couldn't 
march  around  the  state,  nor  tunnel  under  it,  nor 
fly  over  it,  he  guessed  they  would  have  to  march 
across  it. 

It  was  arranged  that  for  the  time  being  the 
troops  should  be  brought  to  Annapolis  and  trans- 
ported thence  to  Washington  by  water.  This 
was  one  of  the  many  remarkable  instances  of 
forbearance  on  the  part  of  the  government. 
There  was  a  great  clamor  on  the  part  of  the 
North  for  vengeance  upon  Baltimore  for  its  crime, 
and  a  demand  for  sterner  measures  in  future. 
But  the  President  was  determined  to  show  all  the 
conciliation  it  was  possible  to  show,  both  in  this 
case  and  in  a  hundred  others. 

These  actions  bore  good  fruit.  It  secured  to  him 
the  confidence  of  the  people  to  a  degree  that 
could  not  have  been  foreseen.  On  the  22d  of 
July,  1S61,  Mr.  Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  offered 
the  following  resolution  : 

"  Resolved  by  the  House  of  Representatives  of 


THE  OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM.  249 

the  United  States,  That  the  present  deplorable 
civil  war  has  been  forced  upon  the  country  by  the 
disunionists  of  the  Southern  States,  now  in  arms 
against  the  Constitutional  Government  and  in 
arms  around  the  capital : 

"That  in  this  national  emergency,  congress, 
banishing  all  feelings  of  mere  passion  or  resent- 
ment, will  recollect  only  its  duty  to  the  whole 
country  ; 

*'  That  this  war  is  not  waged  on  their  part  in 
any  spirit  of  oppression,  or  for  any  purpose  of 
conquest  or  subjugation,  or  purpose  of  overthrow- 
ing or  interfering  with  the  rights  or  established 
institutions  of  those  states,  but  to  defend  and 
maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  and 
to  preserve  the  Union  with  all  the  dignity, 
equality,  and  rights  of  the  several  states  unim- 
paired ;  and  that,  as  soon  as  these  objects  are 
accomplished,  the  war  ought  to  cease." 

This  resolution  was  passed  with  only  two  dis- 
senting votes.  Lincoln's  patience,  forbearance, 
conciliation  had  accomplished  this  marvel. 

Very  early  in  the  war  the  question  of  slavery 
confronted  the  generals.  In  the  month  of  May, 
only  about  two  months  after  the  inauguration, 
Generals  Butler  and  McClellan  confronted  the 
subject,  and  their  methods  of  dealing  with  it 


250  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

were  as  widely  different  as  well  could  be.  When 
Butler  was  in  charge  of  Fortress  Monroe  three 
negroes  fled  to  that  place  for  refuge.  They  said 
that  Colonel  Mallory  had  set  them  to  work  upon 
the  rebel  fortifications.  A  flag  of  truce  was  sent 
in  from  the  rebel  lines  demanding  the  return  of 
the  negroes.  Butler  replied  :  "I  shall  retain  the 
negroes  as  contraband  of  war.  You  were  using 
them  upon  your  batteries  ;  it  is  merely  a  question 
whether  they  shall  be  used  for  or  against  us." 
From  that  time  the  word  contraband  was  used 
in  common  speech  to  indicate  an  escaped  slave. 

It  was  on  the  26th  day  of  the  same  month  that 
McClellan  issued  to  the  slaveholders  a  proclama- 
tion in  which  are  found  these  words :  ''  Not  only 
will  we  abstain  from  all  interference  with  your 
slaves,  but  we  will,  on  the  contrary,  with  an  iron 
hand  crush  any  attempt  at  insurrection  on  their 
part."  It  is  plain  that  McClellan's  "we"  did  not 
include  his  brother-general  at  Fortress  Monroe. 
Further  comment  on  his  attitude  is  reserved  to  a 
later  chapter. 

The  early  victims  of  the  war  caused  deep  and 
profound  sympathy.  The  country  was  not  yet 
used  to  carnage.  The  expectancy  of  a  people  not 
experienced  in  war  was  at  high  tension,  and  these 


THE  OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM.  251 

deaths,  which  would  at  any  time  have  produced 
a  profound  impression,  were  emphatically  im- 
pressive at  that  time. 

One  of  the  very  first  martyrs  of  the  war  was 
Elmer  E.  Ellsworth.  He  was  young,  handsome, 
impetuous.  At  Chicago  he  had  organized  among 
the  firemen  a  company  of  Zouaves  with  their 
spectacular  dress  and  drill.  These  Zouaves  had 
been  giving  exhibition  drills  in  many  northern 
cities  and  aroused  no  little  interest.  One  re- 
sult was  the  formation  of  similar  companies  at 
various  places.  The  fascinating  Zouave  drill  be- 
came quite  popular. 

In  1861  Ellsworth  was  employed  in  the  office 
of  Lincoln  and  Herndon  in  Springfield.  When 
the  President-elect  journeyed  to  Washington 
Ellsworth,  to  whom  Lincoln  was  deeply  attached, 
made  one  of  the  party.  At  the  outbreak  of  hos- 
tilities he  was  commissioned  as  colonel  to  raise  a 
regiment  in  New  York.  On  the  south  bank  of 
the  Potomac,  directly  opposite  Washington,  was 
Alexandria.  The  keeper  of  the  Mansion  House, 
in  that  place,  had  run  up  a  secession  flag  on  the 
mast  at  the  top  of  the  hotel.  This  flag  floated  day 
after  day  in  full  sight  of  Lincoln  and  Ellsworth 
and  the  others. 

Ellsworth  led  an  advance  upon  Alexandria  on 


252  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  evening  of  May  23d.  The  rebels  escaped. 
The  next  morning  as  usual,  the  secession  flag 
floated  tauntingly  from  the  Mansion  House. 
Ellsworth's  blood  was  up  and  he  resolved  to  take 
down  that  flag  and  hoist  the  stars  and  stripes 
with  his  own  hand.  Taking  with  him  two  sol- 
diers he  accomplished  his  purpose. 

Returning  by  a  spiral  stairway,  he  carried  the 
rebel  flag  in  his  hand.  The  proprietor  of  the  hotel 
came  out  from  a  place  of  concealment,  placed  his 
double-barreled  shot-gun  nearly  against  Ells- 
worth's body  and  fired.  The  assassin  was  in- 
stantly shot  down  by  private  Brownell,  but  Ells- 
worth was  dead.  The  rebel  flag  was  dyed  in  the 
blood  of  his  heart.  Underneath  his  uniform  was 
found  a  gold  medal  with  the  inscription,  non 
solum  nobus,  sed  pro  patria, — ''not  for  ourselves 
only  but  for  our  country." 

The  body  was  removed  to  Washington  City, 
where  it  lay  in  state  in  the  East  room  until 
burial.  The  President,  amid  all  the  cares  of  that 
busy  period,  found  time  to  sit  many  hours  beside 
the  body  of  his  friend,  and  at  the  burial  he  ap- 
peared as  chief  mourner. 

This  murder  fired  the  northern  imagination  to 
a  degree.  The  picture  of  Ellsworth's  handsome 
face  was  everywhere  familiar.     It    is  an  easy 


THE  OUTBURST  OF  PATRIOTISM.  253 

guess  that  hundreds,  not  to  say  thousands,  of 
babies  were  named  for  him  within  the  next  few 
months,  and  to  this  day  the  name  Elmer,  starting 
from  him,  has  not  ceased  to  be  a  favorite. 

A  Httle  more  than  two  weeks  later,  on  the  10th 
of  June,  the  first  real  battle  of  the  war  was  fought. 
This  was  at  Big  Bethel,  Va.,  near  Fortress  Monroe. 
The  loss  was  not  great  as  compared  with  later 
battles,  being  only  eighteen  killed  and  fifty-three 
wounded.  But  among  the  killed  was  Major 
Theodore  Winthrop,  a  young  man  barely  thirty- 
three  years  of  age.  He  was  the  author  of  several 
successful  books,  and  gave  promise  of  a  brilliant 
literary  career.  He  was  a  true  patriot  and  a 
gallant  soldier.  His  death  v/as  the  source  of 
sorrow  and  anger  to  many  thousands  of  readers 
of  "Cecil  Dreeme," 

It  was  two  months  later  that  General  Lyon  fell 
at  Wilson's  Creek,  Mo .  He  had  been  conspicuous 
for  his  services  to  the  country  before  this  time. 
The  battle  was  bitterly  contested,  and  Lyon 
showed  himself  a  veritable  hero  in  personal 
courage  and  gallantry.  After  three  wounds  he 
was  still  fighting  on,  leading  personally  a  bayo- 
net charge  when  he  was  shot  for  the  fourth 
time,  fell  from  his  horse,  and  died  immediately. 
It  was  the  gallant    death  of    a    brave  soldier, 


254  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

that  touches  the  heart  and  fires  the  imagina- 
tion. 

These  deaths,  and  such  as  these,  occurring  at 
the  beginning  of  the  war,  taught  the  country  the 
painful  truth  that  the  cost  of  war  is  deeper  than 
can  possibly  be  reckoned.  The  dollars  of  money 
expended,  and  the  lists  of  the  numbers  killed, 
wounded,  and  missing,  do  not  fully  express  the 
profound  sorrow,  the  irreparable  loss. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE  WAR  HERE  TO  STAY. 

Lincoln  was  a  man  of  great  sagacity.  Few 
statesmen  have  had  keener  insight,  or  more  true 
and  sane  foresight.  While  cordially  recognizing 
this,  it  is  not  necessary  to  claim  for  him  infal- 
libility.    He  had  his  disappointments. 

The  morning  after  the  evacuation  of  Fort 
Sumter  he  issued  his  call  for  75,000  volunteers 
to  serve  for  three  months.  We  have  seen  that 
one  reason  why  the  number  was  so  small  was 
that  this  was  the  largest  number  that  could 
possibly  be  clothed,  armed,  and  officered  at  short 
notice.  Subsequent  experience  showed  that  the 
brief  enlistment  of  three  months  was  an  utterly 
inadequate  period  for  so  serious  an  insurrection. 
Did  Lincoln  really  think  the  rebellion  could  be 
put  down  in  three  months  ?  Why  did  he  not  save 
infinite  trouble  by  calling  for  five-year  enlistments 
at  the  beginning  ? 

For  one  thing,   he  had  at  that  time  no  legal 

power  to  call  for  a  longer  period  of  enlistment. 

255 


25G  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Then  he  desired  to  continue  the  conciliatory  policy 
as  long  as  possible,  so  as  to  avoid  alienating  the 
undecided  in  both  the  North  and  the  South.  Had 
the  first  call  been  for  500,000  for  three  years,  it 
would  have  looked  as  if  he  intended  and  desired 
a  long  and  bloody  war,  and  this  would  have 
antagonized  large  numbers  of  persons.  But  it 
is  probable  that  neither  he  nor  the  community  at 
large  suspected  the  seriousness  of  the  war.  The 
wars  in  which  the  men  then  living  had  had  ex- 
perience were  very  slight.  In  comparison  with 
what  followed,  they  were  mere  skirmishes.  How 
should  they  foresee  that  they  were  standing  on 
the  brink  of  one  of  the  longest,  the  costliest,  the 
bloodiest,  and  the  most  eventful  wars  of  all 
history  ? 

Virginia  was  dragooned  into  secession.  She 
declined  to  participate  in  the  Charleston  Conven- 
tion. Though  a  slave  state,  the  public  feeling 
was  by  a  decided  majority  in  favor  of  remaining 
in  the  Union.  But  after  the  fall  of  Sumter  she 
was  manipulated  by  skilful  politicians,  appealed 
to  and  cajoled  on  the  side  of  prejudice  and  sec- 
tional feeling,  and  on  April  17th  passed  the  ordi- 
nance of  secession.  It  was  a  blunder  and  a  more 
costly  blunder  she  could  not  have  made.  For 
four  years  her  soil  was  the  theater  of  a  bitterly 


THE  WAR  HERE  TO  STAY.  257 

contested  war,  and  her  beautiful  valleys  were 
drenched  with  human  blood. 

Back  and  forth,  over  and  over  again,  fought 
the  two  armies,  literally  sweeping  the  face  of  the 
country  with  the  besom  of  destruction.  The 
oldest  of  her  soldiers  of  legal  age  were  fifty-five 
years  of  age  when  the  war  closed.  The  youngest 
were  twelve  years  of  age  when  the  war  opened. 
Older  men  and  younger  boys  were  in  the  war,  ay, 
and  were  killed  on  the  field  of  battle.  As  the 
scourge  of  war  passed  over  that  state  from  south 
to  north,  from  north  to  south,  for  four  years, 
many  an  ancient  and  proud  family  was  simply 
exterminated,  root  and  branch.  Of  some  of  the 
noblest  and  best  families,  there  is  to-day  not  a 
trace  and  scarcely  a  memory. 

All  this  could  not  have  been  foreseen  by  these 
Virginians,  nor  by  the  people  of  the  North,  nor 
by  the  clear-eyed  President  himself.  Even  the 
most  cautious  and  conservative  thought  the  war 
would  be  of  brief  duration.  They  were  soon  to 
to  receive  a  rude  shock  and  learn  that  "  war  is 
hell,"  and  that  this  war  was  here  to  stay.  This 
revelation  came  with  the  first  great  battle  of  the 
war,  which  was  fought  July  21,  1861,  at  Bull 
Eun,  a  location  not  more   than   twenty-five  or 

thirty  miles  from  Washington. 

17 


258  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Certain  disabilities  of  our  soldiers  should  be 
borne  in  mind.  Most  of  them  were  fresh  from 
farm,  factory,  or  store,  and  had  no  military  train- 
ing even  in  the  militia.  A  large  number  were 
just  reaching  the  expiration  of  their  term  of 
enlistment  and  were  homesick  and  eager  to  get 
out  of  the  service.  The  generals  were  not  ac- 
customed to  handling  large  bodies  of  men.  To 
add  to  the  difficulty,  the  officers  and  men  were 
entirely  unacquainted  with  one  another.  Never- 
theless most  of  them  were  ambitious  to  see  a 
little  of  real  war  before  they  went  back  to  the 
industries  of  peace.  They  saw  far  more  than 
they  desired. 

It  was  supposed  by  the  administration  and  its 
friends  that  one  crushing  blow  would  destroy  the 
insurrection,  and  that  this  blow  was  to  be  dealt 
in  this  coming  battle.  The  troops  went  to  the 
front  as  to  a  picnic.  The  people  who  thronged 
Washington,  politicians,  merchants,  students, 
professional  men,  and  ladies  as  well,  had  the 
same  eagerness  to  see  a  battle  that  in  later  days 
they  have  to  witness  a  regatta  or  a  game  of  foot- 
ball. The  civilians,  men  and  women,  followed 
the  army  in  large  numbers.  They  saw  all  they 
looked  for  and  more. 

The  battle  was  carefully  planned,  and  except 


THE  WAR  HERE  TO  STAY.  259 

for  delay  in  getting  started,  it  was  fonght  out 
very  much  as  planned.  It  is  not  the  scope  of  this 
book  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this  or  any  battle. 
But  thus  much  may  be  said  in  a  general  way. 
The  Confederates  were  all  the  day  receiving  a 
steady  stream  of  fresh  reinforcements.  The 
Federals,  on  the  other  hand,  had  been  on  their 
feet  since  two  o'clock  in  the  morning.  By  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  after  eleven  hours  of 
activity  and  five  hours  of  fighting  in  the  heat  of 
a  July  day  in  Virginia,  these  men  were  tired, 
thirsty,  hungry, — worn  out.  Then  came  the  dis- 
astrous panic  and  the  demoralization.  A  large 
portion  of  the  army  started  in  a  race  for  Wash- 
ington, the  civilians  in  the  lead. 

The  disaster  was  terrible,  but  there  is  nothing 
to  gain  by  magnifying  it.  Some  of  the  oldest 
and  best  armies  in  the  world  have  been  broken 
into  confusion  quite  as  badly  as  this  army  of  raw 
recruits.  They  did  not  so  far  lose  heart  that  they 
were  not  able  to  make  a  gallant  stand  at  Center- 
ville  and  successfully  check  the  pursuit  of  the 
enemy.  It  was  said  that  Washington  was  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Confederates,  but  it  is  more  likely 
that  they  had  so  felt  the  valor  of  the  foe  that 
they  v/ere  unfit  to  pursue  the  retreating  army. 
It  was  a  hard  battle  on  both  sides.     No  one  ever 


260  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

accused  the  Confederates  of  cowardice,  and  they 
surely  wanted  to  capture  Washington  City.  That 
they  did  not  do  so  is  ample  proof  that  the  battle 
was  not  a  picnic  to  them.  It  had  been  boasted 
that  one  southern  man  could  whip  five  northern 
men.     This  catchy  phrase  fell  into  disuse. 

It  was  natural  and  politic  for  the  Confederates 
to  magnify  their  victory.  This  was  done  with- 
out stint  by  Jeff  Davis  who  was  present  as  a 
spectator.     He  telegraphed  the  following  : 

"Night  has  closed  upon  a  hard-fought  field. 
Our  forces  were  victorious.  The  enemy  was 
routed  and  fled  precipitately,  abandoning  a  large 
amount  of  arms,  ammunition,  knapsacks,  and  bag- 
gage. The  ground  was  strewed  for  miles  with 
those  killed,  and  the  farmhouses  and  the  ground 
around  were  filled  with  wounded.  Our  force 
was  fifteen  thousand  ;  that  of  the  enemy  estimated 
at  thirty-five  thousand." 

That  account  is  sufficiently  accurate  except  as 
to  figures.  Jeff  Davis  never  could  be  trusted  in 
such  circumstances  to  give  figures  with  any  ap- 
proach to  accuracy.  Lossing  estimates  that  the 
Federal  forces  were  13,000,  and  the  Confederates 
about  27,000.  This  is  certainly  nearer  the  truth 
than  the  boast  of  Jeff  Davis.  But  a  fact  not  less 
important  than  the  numbers  was  that  the  Con- 


THE  WAR  HERE  TO  STAY.  261 

federate  reinforcements  were  fresh,  while  the 
Federal  forces  were  nearly  exhausted  from  march- 
ing half  the  night  before  the  fighting  began. 

Although  the  victorious  forces  were  effectively 
checked  at  Centerville,  those  who  fled  in  absolute 
rout  and  uncontrollable  panic  were  enough  to 
give  the  occasion  a  lasting  place  in  history.  The 
citizens  who  had  gone  to  see  the  battle  had  not 
enjoyed  their  trip.  The  soldiers  who  had  thought 
that  this  war  was  a  sort  of  picnic  had  learned 
that  the  foe  was  formidable.  The  administra- 
tion that  had  expected  to  crush  the  insurrection 
by  one  decisive  blow  became  vaguely  conscious 
of  the  fact  that  the  war  was  here  to  stay  months 
and  years. 

It  is  a  curious  trait  of  human  nature  that 
people  are  not  willing  to  accept  a  defeat  simply. 
The  mind  insists  on  explaining  the  particular 
causes  of  that  specific  defeat.  Amusing  instances 
of  this  are  seen  in  all  games  :  foot-ball,  regattas, 
oratorical  contests.  Also  in  elections  ;  the  de- 
feated have  a  dozen  reasons  to  explain  why  the 
favorite  candidate  was  not  elected  as  he  should 
have  been.  This  trait  came  out  somewhat 
clamorously  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run.  A 
large  number  of  plausible  explanations  were 
urged  on  Mr.   Lincoln,  who  finally   brought  the 


262  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

subject  to  a  conclusion  by  the  remark  :  "I  see. 
We  whipped  the  enemy  and  then  ran  away  from 
him  ! " 

The  effect  of  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun  on  the 
South  was  greatly  to  encourage  them  and  add 
to  their  enthusiasm.  The  effect  on  the  North 
was  to  deepen  their  determination  to  save  the 
flag,  to  open  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the 
southern  power  was  strong,  and  with  renewed 
zeal  and  determination  they  girded  themselves  for 
the  conflict.  But  the  great  burden  fell  on  Lin- 
coln. He  was  disappointed  that  the  insurrection 
was  not  and  could  not  be  crushed  by  one  decisive 
blow.  There  was  need  of  more  time,  more  men, 
more  money,  more  blood.  These  thoughts  and 
the  relative  duties  were  to  him,  with  his  peculiar 
temperament,  a  severer  trial  than  they  could  have 
been  to  perhaps  any  other  man  living.  He  would 
not  shrink  from  doing  his  full  duty,  though  it 
was  so  hard. 

It  made  an  old  man  of  him.  The  night  before 
he  decided  to  send  bread  to  Sumter  he  slept  not  a 
wink.  That  was  one  of  very  many  nights  when 
he  did  not  sleep,  and  there  were  many  mornings 
when  he  tasted  no  food.  But  weak,  fasting, 
worn,  aging  as  he  was,  he  was  always  at  his  post 
of  duty.     The  most  casual  observer  could  see  the 


THE  WAR  HERE  TO  STAY.  263 

inroads  which  these  mental  cares  made  upon  his 
giant  body.  It  was  about  a  year  later  than  this 
that  an  old  neighbor  and  friend,  Noah  Brooks  of 
Chicago,  went  to  Washington  to  live,  and  he  has 
vividly  described  the  change  in  the  appearance  of 
the  President. 

In  Harper^s  Monthly  for  July,  1865,  he  writes  : 
"Though  the  intellectual  man  had  greatly  grown 
meantime,  few  persons  would  recognize  the 
hearty,  blithesome,  genial,  and  wiry  Abraham 
Lincoln  of  earlier  days  in  the  sixteenth  President 
of  the  United  States,  with  his  stooping  figure, 
dull  eyes,  careworn  face,  and  languid  frame. 
The  old  clear  laugh  never  came  back  ;  the  even 
temper  was  sometimes  disturbed  ;  and  his  natural 
charity  for  all  was  often  turned  into  unwonted 
suspicion  of  the  motives  of  men,  whose  selfish- 
ness caused  him  so  much  wear  of  mind." 

Again,  the  same  writer  said  in  Scribner^s 
Monthly  for  February,  1878  :  "  There  was  [in  1862] 
over  his  face  an  expression  of  sadness,  and  a  far- 
away look  in  the  eyes,  which  were  utterly  unlike 
the  Lincoln  of  other  days.  ...  I  confess  that  I 
was  so  pained  that  I  could  almost  have  shed 
tears.  ...  By  and  by,  when  I  knew  him  better, 
his  face  was  often  full  of  mirth  and  enjoyment ; 
and  even  when  he  was  pensive  or  gloomy,    his 


264  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

features  were  lighted  up  very  much  as  a  clouded 
alabaster  vase  might  be  softly  illuminated  by  a 
light  within." 

He  still  used  his  epigram  and  was  still  reminded 
of  "a  little  story,"  when  he  wished  to  point  a 
moral  or  adorn  a  tale.  But  they  were  super- 
ficial indeed  who  thought  they  saw  in  him  only, 
or  chiefly,  the  jester.  Once  when  he  was  reproved 
for  reading  from  a  humorous  book  he  said  with 
passionate  earnestness  that  the  humor  was  his 
safety  valve.  If  it  were  not  for  the  relief  he 
would  die.  It  was  true.  But  he  lived  on,  not 
because  he  wanted  to  live,  for  he  would  rather 
have  died.  But  it  was  God's  will,  and  his  country 
needed  him. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

THE  DARKEST  HOUR  OF  THE   WAR. 

There  were  so  many  dark  hours  in  that  war, 
and  those  hours  were  so  dark,  that  it  is  difficult 
to  specify  one  as  the  darkest  hour.  Perhaps  a 
dozen  observers  would  mention  a  dozen  different 
times.  But  Lincoln  himself  spoke  of  the  com- 
plication known  as  the  Trent  affair  as  the  darkest 
hour.  From  his  standpoint  it  was  surely  so.  It 
was  so  because  he  felt  the  ground  of  public  con- 
fidence slipping  out  from  under  him  as  at  no 
other  time.  The  majority  of  the  North  were 
with  him  in  sentiment  for  the  most  part.  A 
goodly  number  were  with  him  all  the  time, — 
except  this.  This  time,  Charles  Sumner,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Senate  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  was  in  agreement  with  him,  but  beyond 
that,  everybody  was  against  him,  North  and 
South,  and  all  Europe  as  well.  Upon  him  fell  the 
task  of  turning  the  very  turbulent  current  of 
public  sentiment  into  the  channel  of  duty  and 
wisdom. 

The  facts  of  the  affair  were  simple.     Two  men, 

265 


266  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Mason  and  Slidell,  both  ex-senators  of  the  United 
States,  had  started,  with  their  secretaries  and 
families,  to  England  and  France  as  emissaries  of 
the  Confederate  government.  These  countries 
had  already  recognized  the  Confederates  as  bel- 
ligerents, and  the  mission  of  these  men  was  to 
secure  the  recognition  of  the  Confederate  govern- 
ment as  a  nation.  They  succeeded  in  running 
the  blockade  at  Charleston  and  put  in  at  Havana. 
There  they  were  received  with  much  ostentation. 
They  took  passage  on  the  British  mail  steamer 
Trent  to  St.  Thomas,  intending  to  take  the  packet 
thence  to  England. 

Captain  Wilkes,  commanding  a  war  vessel  of 
the  United  States,  was  in  the  neighborhood  and 
learned  of  these  proceedings  and  plans.  He 
stopped  the  British  vessel  on  the  high  seas  and  by 
force  took  the  two  men  and  their  secretaries. 
They  were  confined  in  Fort  Warren,  Boston 
Harbor. 

This  capture  set  the  entire  North  ablaze  with 
enthusiasm.  Seward  was  in  favor  of  it.  Stanton, 
who  a  few  weeks  later  was  appointed  Secretary 
of  War,  applauded  the  act.  Welles,  Secretary  of 
the  Navy,  wrote  a  congratulatory  letter  upon  the 
"great  public  service."  The  people  of  Boston 
tendered  a  banquet  to  the  hero  of  the  hour.    When 


THE  DARKEST  HOUR  OF  THE  WAR.  267 

congress  assembled  about  a  month  later,  it  gave 
him  a  vote  of  thanks.  This  wave  of  public  enthu- 
siasm swept  the  country  from  ocean  to  ocean.  The 
southern  sympathies  of  England  and  France  had 
been  so  pronounced  that  this  whole  country 
seemed  to  unite  in  hilarious  triumph  over  this 
capture,  and  regarded  it  as  a  slap  in  the  face  to 
England's  pride.  The  fact  that  the  complications 
threatened  war  with  that  nation  only  added  fuel 
to  the  flames. 

The  excitement  ran  highest  among  the  soldiers. 
Camp  life  had  become  monotonous,  no  decisive 
victories  had  raised  their  courage  and  enthusiasm. 
They  were  tired.  They  were  exasperated  with 
England's  policy.     They  wanted  to  fight  England. 

The  feeling  upon  the  other  side  of  the  question 
ran  equally  high  in  the  South,  in  England,  and 
in  France.  As  soon  as  the  matter  could  receive 
official  attention,  the  British  minister  at  Wash- 
ington was  instructed  to  demand  the  instant 
release  of  the  four  men  with  a  suitable  apology. 
He  was  to  wait  seven  days  for  an  answer,  and  if 
the  demand  was  not  met  by  that  time,  he  was  to 
break  off  diplomatic  relations  with  the  United 
States.     This  of  course  meant  war. 

Sumner  seems  to  have  been  the  only  other  one 
who  said,  "We  shall  have  to  give  them  up." 


268  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Lincoln,  when  he  heard  of  the  capture,  declared 
that  they  would  prove  to  be  white  elephants  on 
our  hands.  "  We  shall  have  to  give  them  up," 
he  too  said.  But  the  difficulty  was  to  lead  the 
excited  nation  to  see  the  need  of  this  as  he  saw 
it.  He  declared  that  "  we  fought  Great  Britain 
for  doing  just  what  Captain  Wilkes  has  done.  If 
Great  Britain  protests  against  this  act  and  de- 
mands their  release,  we  must  adhere  to  our  prin- 
ciples of  1812.  We  must  give  up  these  prisoners. 
Besides,  one  war  at  a  time."  He  again  said  that 
it  was  ''  the  bitterest  pill  he  ever  swallowed.  But 
England's  triumph  will  not  last  long.  After  this 
war  is  over  we  shall  call  her  to  account  for 
the  damage  she  has  done  us  in  our  hour  of 
trouble." 

The  policy  of  the  government  with  regard  to 
this  matter  was  not  settled  in  the  cabinet  meet- 
ing until  the  day  after  Christmas.  Public  enthu- 
siasm by  that  time  had  had  six  weeks  in  which 
to  cool  down.  In  that  time  the  sober  second 
judgment  had  illuminated  many  minds,  and  the 
general  public  was  ready  to  see  and  hear  reason. 
The  outline  of  the  reply  of  the  United  States 
was  directed  by  Lincoln,  but  he  instructed 
Seward  to  choose  his  own  method  of  arguing  the 
case.    The  reply  was  set  forth  in  a  very  able  and 


THE  DARKEST  HOUR  OF  THE  WAR.    269 

convincing  paper.  It  reaffirmed  our  adhesion 
to  the  doctrine  of  1812,  said  that  Captain  Wilkes 
had  not  done  in  an  orderly  way  that  which  he 
did,  promised  that  the  prisoners  would  be  cheer- 
fully set  at  liberty,  but  declined  to  make  any 
apology. 

At  this  late  date  we  are  able  to  look  somewhat 
behind  the  scenes,  and  we  now  know  that  the 
Queen  and  the  Prince  consort  were  very  deeply 
concerned  over  the  possibility  of  a  war  with  us. 
They  had  only  the  kindest  feelings  for  us,  and 
just  then  they  felt  especially  grateful  for  the 
many  courtesies  which  had  been  shown  to  the 
Prince  of  Wales  upon  his  recent  visit  to  this 
country.  They  were  glad  to  get  through  with 
the  incident  peaceably  and  pleasantly. 

Seward's  reply  was  accepted  as  fully  satisfac- 
tory. The  English  concurred,  the  Americans 
concurred,  and  the  danger  was  over.  There  was 
then  something  of  a  revulsion  of  feeling.  The 
feeling  between  our  government  and  that  of 
England  was  more  cordial  than  before,  and  the 
same  is  true  of  the  feeling  between  the  two  peoples. 
The  South  and  their  sympathizers  were  bitterly 
disappointed.  The  wise  management  of  our  Presi- 
dent had  turned  one  of  the  greatest  dangers 
into  a  most  valuable  success.     There  was  never 


270  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

again  a  likelihood  that  England  would  form  an 
alliance  with  the  Southern  Confederecy. 

The  result  was  most  fortunate  for  us  and  un- 
fortunate for  the  southern  emissaries.  They 
were  no  longer  heroes,  they  were  "gentlemen  of 
eminence,"  but  not  public  functionaries.  They 
were  like  other  travelers,  nothing  more.  They 
were  not  received  at  either  court.  They  could 
only  "linger  around  the  back  doors"  of  the 
courts  where  they  expected  to  be  received  in 
triumph,  and  bear  as  best  they  could  the  studied 
neglect  with  which  they  were  treated.  The 
affair,  so  ominous  at  one  time,  became  most  use- 
ful in  its  practical  results  to  our  cause.  Lord 
Palmerston,  the  British  premier,  got  the  four 
prisoners,  but  Lincoln  won  the  game. 

This  is  a  convenient  place  to  speak  of  the  personal 
griefs  of  the  President.  From  his  earliest  years 
on,  he  was  wonderfully  affected  by  the  presence 
of  death.  Very  few  people  have  had  this  peculiar 
feeling  of  heart-break  with  such  overwhelming 
power.  The  death  of  his  infant  brother  in  Ken- 
tucky, the  death  of  his  mother  in  Indiana,  im- 
pressed him  and  clouded  his  mind  in  a  degree 
entirely  unusual.  We  have  seen  that  in  Spring- 
field the  death  of  AnnEutledge  well-nigh  unseated 
his  reason,     From  these  he  never  recovered. 


THE  DARKEST  HOUR  OF  THE  WAR.  271 

The  horror  of  war  was  that  it  meant  death, 
death,  death  !  He,  whose  heart  was  tender  to  a 
fault,  was  Kterally  surrounded  by  death.  The 
first  victim  of  the  war,  Colonel  Ellsworth,  was  a 
personal  friend,  and  his  murder  was  a  personal 
affliction.  There  were  others  that  came  near  to 
him.  Colonel  E.  D.  Baker,  an  old  friend  and 
neighbor  of  Lincoln,  the  man  who  had  introduced 
him  at  his  inaugural,  was  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff 
Oct.  21,  1861.  Baker's  personal  courage  made 
him  conspicuous  and  marked  him  out  as  a  special 
target  for  the  enemy's  aim.  While  gallantly 
leading  a  charge,  he  fell,  pierced  almost  simul- 
taneously by  four  bullets.  It  fell  upon  Lincoln 
like  the  death  of  a  brother.  He  was  consumed 
with  grief. 

The  following  February  his  two  boys,  Willie 
and  Tad,  were  taken  ill.  Lincoln's  fondness  for 
children  was  well  known.  This  general  love  of 
children  was  a  passion  in  regard  to  his  own  sons. 
In  this  sickness  he  not  only  shared  the  duties  of 
night-watching  with  the  nurse,  but  at  frequent 
intervals  he  would  slip  away  from  callers,  and 
even  from  cabinet  meetings,  to  visit  briefly  the 
little  sufferers.  Willie  died  on  February  20th,  and 
for  several  days  before  his  death  he  was  delirious. 
His   father   was    with   him    almost    constantly. 


272  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

This  is  one  of  the  few  instances  when  he  could 
be  said  to  neglect  public  business.  For  a  few 
days  before,  and  for  a  longer  period  after,  Willie's 
death,  he  was  completely  dejected.  Though  he 
was  a  devout  Christian,  in  spirit  and  temper,  his 
ideas  of  personal  immortality  were  not  at  that 
time  sufficiently  clear  to  give  him  the  sustaining 
help  which  he  needed  under  his  affliction. 

J.  G.  Holland  records  a  pathetic  scene.  This 
was  communicated  to  him  by  a  lady  whose  name 
is  not  given.  She  had  gone  to  Washington  to 
persuade  the  President  to  have  hospitals  for  our 
soldiers  located  in  the  North.  He  was  skeptical 
of  the  plan  and  was  slow  to  approve  it.  His 
hesitation  was  the  occasion  of  much  anxiety  to 
her.  When  he  finally  granted  the  petition,  she 
thanked  him  with  great  earnestness  and  said  she 
was  sure  he  would  be  happy  that  he  had  done  it. 
He  sat  with  his  face  in  his  hands  and  groaned  : 
"Happy  ?    I  shall  never  be  happy  again  !  " 

Below  all  his  play  of  wit  and  humor,  there  was 
an  undercurrent  of  agony.  So  great  were  his 
kindness,  gentleness,  tenderness  of  heart,  that  he 
could  not  live  in  this  cruel  world,  especially  in 
the  period  when  the  times  were  so  much  out  of 
joint,  without  being  a  man  of  sorrows.  The 
present    writer  never    saw    Lincoln's  face   but 


THE  DARKEST  HOUR  OF  THE  WAR.     273 

twice,  once  in  life  and  once  in  death.     Both  times 

it  seemed  to  him,  and  as  he  remembers  it  after 

the  lapse  of  more  than  a  third  of  a  century,  it 

still  seems  to  him,  the  saddest  face  his  eyes  have 

ever  looked  upon. 
i8 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT. 

In  a  community  like  that  of  the  United  States, 
where  free  press  and  free,  speech  prevail,  where 
every  native-born  boy  is  a  possible  President, 
some  undesirable  results  are  inevitable.  The  suc- 
cessful men  become  egotistic,  and  it  is  a  common, 
well-nigh  universal,  practise  for  all  sorts  and  con- 
ditions of  men  to  speak  harshly  of  the  authorities. 
In  the  loafers  on  the  street  corners,  in  the  illiter- 
ate that  use  the  country  store  as  their  club,  in 
the  very  halls  of  congress,  are  heard  the  most 
unsparing  criticisms  and  denunciations  of  the 
administration.  These  unwarranted  comments 
fell  thick  and  fast  on  Lincoln,  because  he  was 
at  the  post  of  responsibility  in  a  critical  jjeriod, 
a  time  of  general  unrest.  Self-appointed  com- 
mittees of  business  men,  politicians,  clergymen, 
editors,  and  what  not,  were  continually  telling 
him  what  to  do  and  how  to  do  it.  Not  a  few  of 
even  the  generals  caught  the  infection. 

It  is  not  possible  nor  desirable  to  tell  of  Lincoln's 

relations  with   many  of  the  eminent  men  with 

274 


LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT.  275 

whom  he  dealt.  But  a  few  will  be  selected — 
Fremont,  McClellan,  Greeley,  and  Grant— in 
order  to  explain  some  of  the  difficulties  which 
were  continually  rising  up  before  him,  and  by 
showing  how  he  dealt  with  them  to  illustrate 
certain  phases  of  his  character.  This  chapter  will 
treat  of  Fremont. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  he  was  the  most 
conspicuous  military  man  in  the  North.  He  had 
earned  the  gratitude  of  the  country  for  distin- 
guished services  in  California,  and  he  was  de- 
servedly popular  among  the  republicans  for  his 
leadership  of  the  party  in  1856.  He  was  at  the  best 
period  of  life,  being  forty-eight  years  of  age.  His 
abilities  were  marked,  and  he  possessed  in  an  un- 
usual degree  the  soldierly  quality  of  inspiring 
enthusiasm.  If  he  could  turn  all  his  powers  into 
the  channel  of  military  efficiency,  he  would  be  the 
man  of  the  age.  He  had  the  public  confidence, 
and  he  had  such  an  opportunity  as  comes  to  few 
men. 

At  the  opening  of  the  war  he  was  in  Paris  and 
was  at  once  summoned  home.  He  arrived  in  this 
country  about  the  first  of  July  and  was  by  the 
President  appointed  Major-General  in  the  regular 
army.  On  the  3d  of  July  he  was  assigned  to  the 
Western  department   with  headquarters  at  St. 


276  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Louis.  This  department  included  the  state  of 
Illinois  and  extended  as  far  west  as  the  Kocky 
Mountains. 

At  that  time  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Missouri 
was  distressful  and  extremely  threatening.  The 
state  of  Missouri  covers  a  very  large  territory, 
69,415  square  miles,  and  it  was  imperfectly  pro- 
vided with  railroads  and  other  means  of  communi- 
cation. Private  bands  of  marauders  and  plun- 
derers were  numerous  and  did  a  great  amount  of 
damage  among  law-abiding  citizens.  There  were 
also  several  insurgent  armies  of  no  mean  dimen- 
sions threatening  the  state  from  the  southwest. 
There  were  good  soldiers  and  officers  there  in 
defense  of  the  Union,  but  they  were  untried,  in- 
sufficiently armed  and  accoutered,  unprovided 
with  means  of  transportation,  and,  above  all, 
they  were  in  need  of  a  commanding  general  of 
sagacity,  daring,  and  personal  resources.  Fre- 
mont seemed  to  be  just  the  man  for  the  important 
post  at  that  critical  hour. 

Generals  Lyon,  Hunter,  and  others,  were  sore 
pressed  in  Missouri.  They  needed  the  presence  of 
their  commander  and  they  needed  him  at  once, 
Fremont  was  ordered  to  proceed  to  his  post  im- 
med  lately.  This  order  he  did  not  obey.  He  could 
never  brook  authority,  and  he  was  not  in  the 


LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT.  277 

habit  of  rendering  good  reasons  for  his  acts  of 
disobedience.  Though  he  was  aware  that  the 
need  of  his  presence  was  urgent,  he  dalHed  about 
Washington  a  long  time  and  then  proceeded  west 
with  leisure,  arriving  in  St.  Louis  nearly  three 
weeks  later  than  he  should  have  done.  These 
three  weeks  were  under  the  circumstances  time 
enough  for  an  incalculable  amount  of  damage, 
enough  to  make  all  the  difference  between  success 
and  failure.  It  was  long  enough  to  insure  the 
death  (on  August  10th)  of  that  brave  soldier,  Gen- 
eral Lyon,  and  long  enough  to  account  for  many 
other  disasters. 

One  of  the  most  annoying  things  with  which 
the  subordinate  generals  had  to  contend,  was  that 
about  this  time  the  term  of  service  of  the  men 
who  had  enlisted  for  three  months  was  beginning 
to  expire.  Many  of  these  reenlisted,  and  many 
did  not.  It  was  not  possible  to  plan  an  expedition 
of  any  sort  when  it  was  probable  that  a  large 
portion  of  the  command  would  be  out  of  service 
before  it  was  completed.  There  was  need  of  a 
master  hand  at  organizing  and  inspiring  loyalty. 

Though  Fremont  had  so  unaccountably  delayed, 
yet  when  he  came  he  was  received  with  confidence 
and  enthusiasm.  Lincoln  gave  to  him,  as  he  did 
to  all  his  generals,  very  nearly  a  carte  blanche. 


278  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

His  instructions  were  general,  and  the  com- 
mander was  left  to  work  out  the  details  in  his 
own  way.  All  that  he  required  was  that  some- 
thing should  be  done  successfully  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war.  The  country  was  not  a  judge  of 
military  plans  ;  it  was  a  judge  of  military  success 
and  failure.  They  expected,  and  they  had  a  right 
to  expect,  that  Fremont  should  do  something 
more  than  keep  up  a  dress  parade.  Lincoln 
laid  on  him  this  responsibility  in  perfect  confi- 
dence. 

The  first  thing  Fremont  accomplished  in  Mis- 
souri was  to  quarrel  with  his  best  friends,  the 
Blair  family.  This  is  important  chiefly  as  a 
thermometer, — it  indicated  his  inability  to  hold 
the  confidence  of  intelligent  and  influential  men 
after  he  had  it.  About  this  time  Lincoln  wrote 
to  General  Hunter  a  personal  letter  which  showed 
well  how  things  were  likely  to  go  : — 

"  My  dear  Sir  :  General  Fremont  needs  assist- 
ance which  it  is  difficult  to  give  him.  He  is  losing 
the  confidence  of  men  near  him,  whose  support 
any  man  in  his  position  must  have  to  be  successful. 
His  cardinal  mistake  is  that  he  isolates  himself 
and  allows  no  one  to  see  him  ;  and  by  which  he 
does  not  know  what  is  going  on  in  the  very  matter 


LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT.  279 

he  is  dealing  with.  He  needs  to  have  by  his  side 
a  man  of  large  experience.  Will  you  not,  for  me, 
take  that  place  ? " 

It  was  Louis  XV.  who  exclaimed,  "  L^efat  ? 
C'est  moi ! "  "The  state  ?  Fm  the  state  !  "  The 
next  move  of  Fremont  can  be  compared  only  with 
that  spirit  of  the  French  emperor.  It  was  no  less 
than  a  proclamation  of  emancipation.  This  was 
a  civic  act,  while  Fremont  was  an  officer  of  mili- 
tary, not  civil,  authority.  The  act  was  unauthor- 
ized, the  President  was  not  even  consulted.  Even 
had  it  been  a  wise  move,  Fremont  would  have 
been  without  justification  because  it  was  entirely 
outside  of  his  prerogatives.  Even  had  he  been 
the  wisest  man,  he  was  not  an  autocrat  and  could 
not  have  thus  transcended  his  powers. 

But  this  act  was  calculated  to  do  much  mischief. 
The  duty  of  the  hour  was  to  save  the  Union. 
Fremont's  part  in  that  duty  was  to  drive  the 
rebels  out  of  Missouri.  Missouri  was  a  slave 
state.  It  had  not  seceded,  and  it  was  important 
that  it  should  not  do  so.  The  same  was  true  of 
Kentucky  and  Maryland.  It  is  easy  to  see,  upon 
reading  Fremont's  proclamation,  that  it  is  the 
work  not  of  a  soldier,  but  of  a  politician,  and  a 
bungling  politican  at  that. 


280  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

When  this  came  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Presi- 
dent he  took  prompt  measures  to  counteract  it 
in  a  way  that  would  accomplish  the  greatest  good 
with  the  least  harm.     He  wrote  to  the  general : 

"Allow  me,  therefore,  to  ask  that  you  will,  as 
of  your  own  motion,  modify  that  paragraph  so 
as  to  conform  to  the  first  and  fourth  sections  of 
the  act  of  congress  entitled,  '  An  act  to  confiscate 
property  used  for  insurrectionary  purposes,'  ap- 
proved August  6,  1861,  and  a  copy  of  which  act  I 
herewith  send  you.  This  letter  is  written  in  a 
spirit  of  caution,  and  not  of  censure." 

But  Fremont  was  willing  to  override  both  Pres- 
ident and  congress,  and  declined  to  make  the 
necessary  modifications.  This  placed  him,  with 
such  influence  as  he  had,  in  direct  antagonism  to 
the  administration.  That  which  ought  to  have 
been  done  by  Fremont  had  to  be  done  by  Lincoln, 
upon  whom  was  thrown  the  onus  of  whatever 
was  objectionable  in  the  matter.  It  did  give 
him  trouble.  It  alienated  many  of  the  extreme 
abolitionists,  including  even  his  old  neighbor 
and  friend,  Oscar  H.  Browning.  They  seemed  to 
think  that  Lincoln  was  now  championing  slavery. 
His  enemies  needed  no  alienation,  but  they  made 
adroit  use  of  this  to  stir  up  and  increase  discon- 
tent. 


LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT.  281 

So  matters  grew  uo  better  with  Fremont,  but 
much  worse  for  three  mouths.  The  words  of 
Nicolay  and  Hay  are  none  too  strong  :  "He  had 
frittered  away  his  opportunity  for  usefulness  and 
fame ;   such  an  opportunity,  indeed,    as  rarely 


comes." 


On  October  21st,  the  President  sent  by  special 
messenger  the  following  letter  to  General  Curtis 
at  St.  Louis  : 

"  Dear  Sir  :  On  receipt  of  this,  with  the  accom- 
panying enclosures,  you  will  take  safe,  certain, 
and  suitable  measures  to  have  the  inclosure  ad- 
dressed to  Major- General  Fremont  delivered  to 
him  with  all  reasonable  despatch,  subject  to  these 
conditions  only,  that  if,  when  General  Fremont 
shall  be  reached  by  the  messenger, — yourself  or 
any  one  sent  by  you, — he  shall  then  have,  in 
personal  command,  fought  and  won  a  battle,  or 
shall  then  be  in  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
enemy  in  expectation  of  a  battle,  it  is  not  to  be 
delivered  but  held  for  further  orders." 

The  inclosure  mentioned  was  an  order  relieving 
General  Fremont  and  placing  Hunter  temporarily 
in  command.  It  is  plain  that  the  President  ex- 
pected that  there  would  be  difficulties,  in  the  way 
of  delivering  the  order, — that  Fremont  himself 


282  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

might  prevent  its  delivery.  General  Curtis,  who 
undertook  its  delivery,  evidently  expected  the 
same  thing,  for  he  employed  three  different 
messengers  who  took  three  separate  methods  of 
trying  to  reach  Fremont.  The  one  who  succeeded 
in  delivering  the  order  did  so  only  because  of  his 
successful  disguise,  and  when  it  was  accomplished 
Fremont's  words  and  manner  showed  that  he  had 
expected  to  head  off  any  such  order.  This  incident 
reveals  the  peril  which  would  have  fallen  to 
American  institutions  had  he  been  more  success- 
ful in  his  aspirations  to  the  presidency. 

Fremont  had  one  more  chance.  He  was  placed 
in  command  of  a  corps  in  Virginia.  There  he 
disobeyed  orders  in  a  most  atrocious  manner,  and 
by  so  doing  permitted  Jackson  and  his  army  to 
escape.  He  was  superseded  by  Pope,  but  declin- 
ing to  serve  under  a  junior  officer,  resigned. 
And  that  was  the  end  of  Fremont  as  a  public 
man.  The  fact  that  he  had  ceased  to  be  a  force 
in  American  life  was  emphasized  in  1864.  The 
extreme  abolitionists  nominated  him  as  candidate 
for  the  presidency  in  opposition  to  Lincoln.  But 
his  following  was  so  slight  that  he  withdrew  from 
the  race  and  retired  permanently  to  private  life. 

Yet  he  was  a  man  of  splendid  abilities  of  a 
certain  sort.     Had  he  practised  guerilla  warfare, 


LINCOLN  AND  FREMONT.  283 

had  he  had  absolute  and  irresponsible  command 
of  a  small  body  of  picked  men  with  freedom  to 
raid  or  do  anything  else  he  pleased,  he  would 
have  been  indeed  formidable.  The  terror  which 
the  rebel  guerilla  General,  Morgan,  spread  over 
wide  territory  would  easily  have  been  surpassed 
by  Fremont.  But  guerilla  warfare  was  not 
permissible  on  the  side  of  the  government.  The 
aim  of  the  Confederates  was  destruction  ;  the 
aim  of  the  administration  was  construction.  It 
is  always  easier  and  more  spectacular  to  destroy 
than  to  construct. 

One  trouble  with  Fremont  was  his  narrowness 
of  view.  He  could  not  work  with  others.  If  he 
wanted  a  thing  in  his  particular  department,  it 
did  not  concern  him  that  it  might  injure  the 
cause  as  a  whole.  Another  trouble  was  his  con- 
ceit. He  wanted  to  be  "the  whole  thing,"  Presi- 
dent, congress,  general,  and  judiciary.  Had 
Lincoln  not  possessed  the  patience  of  Job,  he 
could  not  have  borne  with  him  even  so  long. 
The  kindness  of  the  President's  letter,  above 
quoted,  is  eloquent  testimony  to  his  magnan- 
imity. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN. 

McClellan  was  a  very  different  man  from  Fre- 
mont. Though  he  was  as  nearly  as  possible  op- 
posite in  his  characteristics,  still  it  was  not  easier 
to  get  along  with  him.  He  was  a  man  of  bril- 
liant talents,  fine  culture,  and  charming  per- 
sonality. Graduating  from  West  Point  in  1846, 
he  went  almost  immediately  into  the  Mexican 
War,  where  he  earned  his  captaincy.  He  later 
wrote  a  manual  of  arms  for  use  in  the  United 
States  army.  He  visited  Europe  as  a  member  of 
the  commission  of  officers  to  gather  military 
information. 

His  greatest  genius  was  in  engineering,  a  line 
in  which  he  had  no  superior.  He  went  to  Illinois 
in  1857  as  chief  engineer  of  the  Central  Railroad, 
the  following  year  he  became  vice-president,  and 
the  year  after  that  president  of  the  St.  Louis  and 
Cincinnati  Railway.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  war 
this  captain  was  by  the  governor  of  Ohio  com- 
missioned as  major-general,  and  a  few  days  later 
^84 


LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN.  285 

he    received   from  Lincoln   the    commission    of 
major-general  in  the  United  States  army. 

He  was  sent  to  West  Virginia  with  orders  to 
drive  out  the  rebels.  This  he  achieved  in  a  brief 
time,  and  for  it  he  received  the  thanks  of  con- 
gress. He  was,  after  the  disaster  at  Bull  Run, 
called  to  Washington  and  placed  in  command  of 
that  portion  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  whose 
specific  duty  was  the  defense  of  the  capital.  He 
was  rapidly  promoted  from  one  position  to  an- 
other until  age  and  infirmity  compelled  the  re- 
tirement of  that  grand  old  warrior,  Winfield 
Scott,  whereupon  he  was  made  general-in-chief 
of  the  United  States  army.  All  this  occurred  in 
less  than  four  months.  Four  months  ago,  this 
young  man  of  thirty-five  years  was  an  ex-captain. 
To-day  he  is  general-in-chief,  not  of  the  largest 
army,  but  probably  of  the  most  intelligent  army, 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  He  would  be  al- 
most more  than  human  if  such  a  sudden  turn 
of  the  wheel  of  fortune  did  not  also  turn  his 
head. 

It  was  Lincoln's  habit  to  let  his  generals  do 
their  work  in  their  own  ways,  only  insisting  that 
they  should  accomplish  visible  and  tangible  re- 
sults. This  method  he  followed  with  McClellan, 
developing  it  with  great  patience  under  trying 


286  ^IFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

circumstances.  On  this  point  there  is  no  better 
witness  than  McClellan  himself.  To  his  wife  he 
wrote,  "They  give  me  my  way  in  everything, 
full  swing  and  unbounded  confidence."  Later  he 
expressed  contempt  for  the  President  who 
"showed  him  too  much  deference."  He  was  a 
universal  favorite,  he  became  known  as  ''the 
young  Napoleon,"  he  had  the  confidence  of  the 
country  and  the  loyal  devotion  of  the  army,  and 
the  unqualified  support  of  the  administration.  Of 
him  great  things  were  expected,  and  reasonably 
so.  In  the  power  of  inspiring  confidence  and  en- 
thusiasm he  was  second  only  to  Napoleon, 

As  an  organizer  and  drill-master  he  was  superb. 
The  army  after  Bull  Run  was  as  demoralized  as 
an  army  could  be.  The  recruits  soon  began  to 
arrive  from  the  North,  every  day  bringing  thou- 
sands of  such  into  Washington.  These  required 
care  and  they  must  be  put  into  shape  for  effective 
service.  This  difficult  task  he  accomplished  in  a 
way  that  fully  met  the  public  expectation  and 
reflected  great  credit  upon  himself. 

In  defense  he  was  a  terrible  fighter.  That  is  to 
say,  when  he  fought  at  all— for  he  fought  only 
in  defense— he  fought  well.  A  distinguished 
Confederate  soldier  said,  "  There  was  no  Union 
general  whom  we  so  much  dreaded  as  McClellan. 


LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN.  287 

He  had,  as  we  thought,  no  equal."  And  they 
declared  they  could  always  tell  when  McClellan 
was  in  command  by  the  way  the  men  fought. 

An  illustrious  comment  on  this  is  the  splendid 
fighting  at  Antietam.  That  was  one  of  the 
greatest  battles  and  one  of  the  most  magnificent 
victories  of  the  war.  It  showed  McClellan  at  his 
best. 

We  know  what  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 
previous  to  the  accession  of  McClellan.  Let  us 
see  what  it  was  after  his  removal.  "McClellan 
was  retired,"  says  the  Honorable  Hugh  McCul- 
loch,  "and  what  happened  to  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  ?  Terrible  slaughter  under  Burnside  at 
Fredericksburg  ;  crushing  defeat  at  Chancellors- 
ville  under  Hooker. "  All  this  shows  that  McClel- 
lan narrowly  missed  the  fame  of  being  one  of  the 
greatest  generals  in  history.  But  let  us  glance 
at  another  page  in  the  ledger. 

His  first  act,  when  in  command  at  Cincinnati, 
was  to  enter  into  an  agreement  with  General 
Buckner  that  the  state  of  Kentucky  should  be 
treated  as  neutral  territory.  That  agreement 
put  that  state  into  the  position  of  a  foreign 
country,  like  England  or  China,  when  the  very 
purpose  of  the  war  was  to  insist  that  the  United 
States  was  one  nation.     This  act  was  a  usurpation 


288  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

of  authority,  and  further,  it  was  diametrically 
wroug  even  had  he  possessed  the  authority. 

His  next  notable  act,  one  which  has  already 
been  mentioned,  was  to  issue  a  proclamation  in 
defense  of  slavery,  promising  to  assist  [the  rebels] 
to  put  down  any  attempt  at  insurrection  by  the 
slaves.  This  was  wrong.  His  duty  was  to  con- 
quer the  enemy.  It  was  no  more  his  duty  to 
defend  slavery  than  it  was  Fremont's  to  eman- 
cipate the  slaves. 

The  next  development  of  McClellan  was  the 
hallucination,  from  which  he  never  freed  himself, 
that  the  enemy's  numbers  were  from  five  to  ten 
times  as  great  as  they  really  were.  ''  I  am  here," 
he  wrote  August  16,  1861,  "  in  a  terrible  place  ; 
the  enemy  have  from  three  to  four  times  my 
force.  The  President,  the  old  general,  cannot  or 
will  not  see  the  true  state  of  affairs."  At  that 
time  the  "true  state  of  affairs"  was  that  the 
enemy  had  from  one-third  to  one-half  his  force. 
That  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the  exaggeration  of 
his  fears.  That  is,  McClellan's  estimate  was 
from  six  to  twelve  times  too  much. 

At  Yorktown  he  faced  the  Confederate  Ma- 
gruder,  who  commanded  11,000  all  told.  Of  this 
number,  6,000  were  spread  along  a  line  of  thir- 
teen miles  of  defense  across  the  peninsula,  leav- 


LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN.  'JS9 

ing  6,000  for  battle.  McClellan's  imagination, 
or  fears,  magnified  this  into  an  enormous  army. 
With  his  58,000  effective  troops  he  industriously 
prepared  for  defense,  and  when  the  engineering 
work  was  accomplished  thought  he  had  done  a 
great  act  in  defending  his  army.  All  the  while 
he  was  calling  lustily  for  reinforcements  from 
Washington,  When  Magruder  was  ready  he  re- 
tired with  his  little  army  and  McClellan's  oppor- 
tunit}'-  was  gone. 

At  Antietam  he  won  a  brilliant  victory,  but  he 
failed  to  follow  it  up.  There  was  a  chance  to 
annihilate  the  Confederate  army  and  end  the  war. 
To  do  that  was  nearly  as  important  as  it  had  been 
to  win  the  victory.  To  be  sure  his  troops  were 
worn,  but  as  compared  with  the  shattered  condi- 
tion of  the  enemy,  his  army  was  ready  for  dress 
parade.  So  the  enemy  was  allowed  to  cross  the 
Potomac  at  leisure,  reform,  reorganize,  and  the 
war  was  needlessly  prolonged.  It  was  this 
neglect  which,  more  than  any  other  one  thing, 
undermined  the  general  confidence  in  McClellan, 

Later,  at  second  Bull  Run  he  left  Pope  to  suf- 
fer. It  was  clearly  his  duty  to  reinforce  Pope, 
but  he  only  said  that  Pope  had  got  himself  into 
the  fix  and  he  must  get  out  as  he  could.  Ho 
seemed  to  forget  that  there  never  was  a  timo 
^9 


290  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

when  lie  was  not  calling  for  reinforcements  him- 
self. This  wanton  neglect  was  unsoldierly,  in- 
human. He  also  forgot  that  this  method  of 
punishing  Pope  inflicted  severe  punishment  on 
the  nation. 

His  chronic  call  for  reinforcements,  were  it  not 
so  serious,  would  make  the  motive  of  a  comic 
opera.  When  he  was  in  Washington,  he  wanted 
all  the  troops  called  in  for  the  defense  of  the  city. 
When  he  was  in  Virginia,  he  thought  the  troops 
which  were  left  for  the  defense  of  the  city  ought 
to  be  sent  to  reinforce  him, — the  city  was  safe 
enough  !  He  telegraphed  to  Governor  Denison 
of  Ohio  to  pay  no  attention  to  Eosecrans'  request 
for  troops.  He  thought  that  20,000,  with  what 
could  be  raised  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  was 
enough  for  the  Mississippi  Valley,  while  he  needed 
273,000.  When  he  was  insisting  that  Washing- 
ton should  be  stripped  in  order  to  furnish  him 
with  50,000  additional  men,  the  President  asked 
what  had  become  of  his  more  than  160,000  ;  and 
in  his  detailed  reply  he  gave  the  item  of  38,500 
absent  on  leave.  Here  was  nearly  the  number  of 
50,000  which  he  asked  for,  if  he  would  only  call 

them  in. 

Incidentally  to  all  this  were  persistent  discour- 
tesies to  the  President.      He  would  sit  silent  in 


LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN.  291 

the  cabinet  meetings  pretending  to  have  secrets 
of  great  importance.  Instead  of  calling  on  the 
President  to  report,  he  made  it  necessary  for  the 
President  to  call  on  him.  At  other  times  he 
would  keep  the  President  waiting  while  he  affected 
to  be  busy  with  subordinates.  Once  indeed  he 
left  the  President  waiting  while  he  went  to  bed. 
All  this  Lincoln  bore  with  his  accustomed  pa- 
tience. He  playfully  said,  when  remonstrated 
with,  that  he  would  gladly  hold  McClellan's  horse 
if  he  would  only  win  the  battles.  This  he  failed 
to  do.  And  when  he  was  finally  relieved,  he  had 
worn  out  the  patience  not  only  of  the  President, 
but  of  his  army,  and  of  the  entire  country.  One 
writer  of  the  day  said  with  much  bitterness,  but 
with  substantial  truth,  that  '' McClellan,  with 
greater  means  at  his  command  than  Alexander, 
Csesar,  Napoleon,  or  Wellington,  has  lost  more 
men  and  means  in  his  disasters  than  they  in  their 

victories." 

What  were  the  defects  of  this  remarkable 
man  ?  In  the  first  place,  he  believed  in  slavery. 
At  this  late  day  it  is  difficult  to  realize  the  devo- 
tion which  some  men  had  for  slavery  as  a  "divine 
institution,"  before  which  they  could  kneel  down 
and  pray,  as  if  it  was  the  very  ark  of  God.  Mc- 
Clellan  was  one  such.     And  it  is  not  improbable 


292  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

that  he  early  had  more  than  a  suspicion  that 
slavery  was  the  real  cause  of  all  the  trouble.  This 
would  in  part  account  for  his  hesitation. 

Then  there  was  a  bitter  personal  hatred  between 
him  and  Stanton.'  This  led  him  to  resent  all 
suggestions  and  orders  emanating  from  the  War 
Department.  It  also  made  him  suspicious  of 
Stanton's  associates,  including  the  President. 

Then  he  seemed  to  lack  the  nerve  for  a  pitched 
battle.  He  could  do  everything  up  to  the  point  of 
action,  but  he  could  not  act.  This  lack  of  nerve 
is  a  more  common  fact  in  men  in  all  walks  of  life 
than  is  usually  recognized.  He  was  unconquer- 
able in  defense,  he  did  not  know  the  word  aggres- 
sive. Had  he  possessed  some  of  the  nerve  of 
Sheridan,  Hooker,  Sherman,  or  any  one  of  a  . 
hundred  others,  he  would  have  been  one  of  the 
four  great  generals  of  history.  But  he  could  not 
be  persuaded  or  forced  to  attack.  His  men  might 
die  of  fever,  but  not  in  battle.  So  far  as  he  was 
concerned,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  might  have 
been  reorganizing,  changing  its  base,  and  perfect- 
ing its  defenses  against  the  enemy,  to  this  day. 

A  fatal  defect  was  the  endeavor  to  combine  the 
military  and  the  political.  Few  men  have  suc- 
ceeded in  this.  There  were  Alexander,  Csesar, 
Napoleon, — but  all  came  to  an  untimely  end  ;  the 


LINCOLN  AND  McCLELLAN.  293 

first  met  an  early  death  in  a  foreign  land  ,  the 
second  was  assassinated,  the  third  died  a  prisoner 
in  exile.  McClellan  and  Fremont,  with  all  their 
splendid  talents,  made  the  fatal  mistake.  They 
forgot  that  for  the  time  they  were  only  military 
men.  Grant  was  not  a  politician  until  after  his 
military  duties  were  ended. 

The  conclusion  of  the  relations  between  Lin- 
coln and  McClellan  was  not  generally  known 
until  recently  made  public  by  Lincoln's  intimate 
friend  Lamon.  McClellan  was  nominated  in  1864 
for  President  by  the  democrats.  As  election  day 
approached  it  became  increasingly  clear  that 
McClellan  had  no  chance  whatever  of  being 
elected.  But  Lincoln  wanted  something  more 
than,  and  different  from,  a  reelection.  His 
desires  were  for  the  welfare  of  the  distracted 
country.  He  wanted  peace,  reconstruction,  pros- 
T^erity.  A  few  days  before  election  he  sent  a 
remarkable  proposition  through  a  common  friend, 
Francis  P.  Blair,  to  McClellan.  Mr.  Blair  was 
in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  plan. 

This  proposition  set  forth  the  hopelessness  of 
McClellan's  chances  for  the  presidency,  which  he 
knew  perfectly  well.  It  was  then  suggested  that 
McClellan  withdraw  from  the  contest  and  let  the 
President  be  chosen  by   a  united  North,  whicli 


294  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

would  bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  close  and  stop 
the  slaughter  of  men  on  both  sides.  The  com- 
pensations for  this  concession  were  to  be  :  McClel- 
lan  was  to  be  promoted  immediately  to  be  General 
of  the  Army,  his  father-in-law  Marcy  was  to  be 
appointed  major-general,  and  a  suitable  recogni- 
tion of  the  democratic  party  would  be  made  in 
other  appointments. 

At  first  blush  McClellan  was  in  favor  of  the 
arrangement.  It  is  probable  that  if  left  to  him- 
self he  would  have  acceded.  The  imagination 
can  hardly  grasp  the  fame  that  would  have  come 
to  "little  Mac,"  and  the  blessiDgs  that  would 
have  come  to  the  reunited  country,  had  this  wise 
plan  of  Lincoln  been  accepted.  But  McClellan 
consulted  with  friends  who  advised  against  it. 
The  matter  was  dropped, — and  that  was  the  end 
of  the  history  of  McClellan.  He  had  thrown 
away  his  last  chance  of  success  and  fame.  All 
that  followed  may  be  written  in  one  brief  sen- 
tence :  On  election  day  he  resigned  from  the 
army  and  was  overwhelmingly  defeated  at  the 
polls. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY. 

Much  of  the  mischief  of  the  world  is  the  work 
of  people  who  mean  well.  Not  the  least  of  the 
annoyances  thrust  on  Lincoln  came  from  people 
who  ought  to  have  known  better.  The  fact  that 
such  mischief-makers  are  complacent,  as  if  they 
were  doing  what  was  brilliant,  and  useful,  adds 
to  the  vexation. 

One  of  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the 
United  States  at  the  time  of  the  civil  war  was 
Horace  Greeley.  He  was  a  man  of  ardent  convic- 
tions, of  unimpeachable  honesty,  and  an  editorial 
writer  of  the  first  rank.  He  did  a  vast  amount 
of  good.  He  also  did  a  vast  amount  of  mischief 
which  may  be  considered  to  offset  a  part  of  the 
good  he  accomplished. 

His  intellectual  ability  made  it  impossible  for 

him  to  be  anywhere  a  nonentity.     He  was  always 

prominent.     His  paper,  the  New  York  Tribune, 

was  in  many  respects  the  ablest  newspaper  of  the 

day.     Large  numbers  of  intelligent  republicans 

295 


296  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

took  the  utterances  of  the  Tribune  as  gospel 
truth. 

It  is  not  safe  for  any  man  to  have  an  excess  of  in- 
fluence. It  is  not  surprising  that  the  wide  influ- 
ence which  Greeley  acquired  made  him  egotistic. 
He  apparently  came  to  believe  that  he  had  a 
mortgage  on  the  republican  party,  and  through 
that  upon  the  country.  His  editorial  became 
dictatorial.  He  looked  upon  Lincoln  as  a  protege 
of  his  own  who  required  direction.  This  he  was 
willing  to  give, — mildly  but  firmly.  All  this  was 
true  of  many  other  good  men  and  good  repub- 
licans.    But  it  was  emphatically  true  of  Greeley. 

If  there  is  anything  worse  than  a  military 
man  who  plumes  himself  upon  his  statesman- 
ship, it  is  the  civilian  who  affects  to  understand 
military  matters  better  than  the  generals,  the 
war  department,  and  the  commander-in-chief. 
This  was  Greeley.  He  placed  his  military  policy 
in  the  form  of  a  war-cry, — '^  On  to  Richmond  !  " 
— at  the  head  of  his  editorial  page,  and  with  a 
pen  of  marvelous  power  rung  the  changes  on  it. 

This  is  but  one  sample  of  the  man's  proneness 
to  interfere  in  other  matters.  With  all  the  in- 
fallibility of  an  editor  he  was  ever  ready  to  tell 
what  the  President  ought  to  do  as  a  sensible  and 
patriotic  man.     He  would  have  saved  the  country 


LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY.  297 

by  electing  Douglas,  by  permitting  peaceable 
secession,  by  persuading  the  French  ambassador 
to  intervene,  by  conference  and  argument  with 
the  Confederate  emissaries,  and  by  assuming  per- 
sonal control  of  the  administration.  At  a  later 
date  he  went  so  far  as  to  propose  to  force  Lin- 
coln's resignation.  He  did  not  seem  to  realize 
that  Lincoln  could  be  most  effective  if  allowed  to 
do  his  work  in  his  own  way.  He  did  not  grasp 
the  truth  that  he  could  be  of  the  highest  value  to 
the  administration  only  as  he  helped  and  encour- 
aged, and  that  his  obstructions  operated  only  to 
diminish  the  efficiency  of  the  government.  If 
Greeley  had  put  the  same  degree  of  force  into 
encouraging  the  administration  that  he  put  into 
hindering  its  work,  he  would  have  merited  the 
gratitude  of  his  generation. 

He  was  singularly  lacking  in  the  willingness 
to  do  this,  or  in  the  ability  to  recognize  its  im- 
portance. Like  hundreds  of  others  he  persisted 
in  expounding  the  duties  of  the  executive,  but  his 
patronizing  advice  was  more  harmful  in  propor- 
tion to  the  incisiveuess  of  his  literary  ability. 
This  impertinence  of  Greeley's  criticism  reached 
its  climax  in  an  open  letter  to  Lincoln.  This 
letter  is,  in  part,  quoted  here.  It  shows  some- 
thing of  the  unspeakable  annoyances  that  were 


298  LIFE  OF  ABRAHA3I  LINCOLN. 

thrust  upon  the  already  overburdened  President, 
from  those  who  ought  to  have  deUghted  in  hold- 
ing up  his  hands,  those  of  whom  better  things 
might  have  been  expected.  The  reply  shows  the 
patience  with  which  Lincoln  received  these  criti- 
cisms. It  further  shows  the  skill  with  which  he 
could  meet  the  famous  editor  on  his  own  ground ; 
for  he  also  could  wield  a  trenchant  pen. 

Greeley's  letter  is  very  long  and  it  is  not  neces- 
sary to  give  it  in  full.  But  the  headings,  which 
are  given  below,  are  quite  sufficient  to  show  that 
the  brilliant  editor  dipped  his  pen  in  gall  in  order 
that  he  might  add  bitterness  to  the  man  whose 
life  was  already  filled  to  the  brim  with  the  bitter 
sorrows,  trials,  and  disappointments  of  a  dis- 
tracted nation.  The  letter  is  published  on  the 
editorial  page  of  the  New  York  Tribune  of  August 
20,  1862. 


u 


The  Prayer  of  Twenty  Millions  : 


(( 


To  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of  the  United 

States : 

"  Dear  Sir  :  I  do  not  intrude  to  tell  you — for 
you  must  know  already — that  a  great  proportion 
of  those  who  triumphed  in  your  election,  and  of 
all  who  desire  the  unqualified  suppression  of  the 
Rebellion  now  desolating  our  country,  are  sorely 


LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY.  299 

disappointed  and  deeply  pained  by  the  policy  you 
seem  to  be  pursuing  with  regard  to  the  slaves  of 
the  Rebels.  I  write  only  to  set  succinctly  and 
unmistakably  before  you  what  we  require,  what 
we  think  we  have  a  right  to  expect,  and  of  what 
we  complain. 

'^  I.  We  require  of  you,  as  the  first  servant  of 
the  Republic,  charged  especially  and  preeminently 
with  this  duty,  that  you  execute  the  laws.  .  .  . 

"  II.  We  think  you  are  strangely  and  disastrous- 
ly remiss  in  the  discharge  of  your  official  and  im- 
perative duty  with  regard  to  the  emancipating 
provisions  of  the  new  Confiscation  Act.  .  .  . 

"  III.  We  think  you  are  unduly  influenced  by 
the  counsels,  the  representations,  the  menaces,  of 
certain  fossil  politicians  hailing  from  the  Border 
States.  .  .  . 

''  IV.  We  think  the  timid  counsels  of  such  a 
crisis  calculated  to  prove  perilous  and  probably 
disastrous.  .  .  . 

"  V,  We  complain  that  the  Union  cause  has 
suffered  and  is  now  suffering  immensely,  from 
mistaken  deference  to  Rebel  Slavery.  Had  you, 
Sir,  in  your  Inaugural  Address,  unmistakably 
given  notice  that,  in  case  the  Rebellion  already 
commenced  were  persisted  in,  and  your  efforts 
to  preserve  the  Union  and  enforce  the  laws  should 


300  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

be  resisted  by  armed  force,  you  ivould  recognize 
no  loyal  person  as  rightfully  held  in  Slavery  by 
a  traitor,  we  believe  that  the  Rebellion  would 
have  received  a  staggering,  if  not  fatal  blow.  .  .  . 

"VI.  We  complain  that  the  Confiscation  Act 
which  you  approved  is  habitually  disregarded  by 
your  Generals,  and  that  no  word  of  rebuke  for 
them  from  you  has  yet  reached  the  public  ear.  .  .  . 

"VII.  Let  me  call  your  attention  to  the  recent 
tragedy  in  New  Orleans,  whereof  the  facts  are 
obtained  entirely  through  Pro-Slavery  chan- 
nels. .  .  . 

"VIII.  On  the  face  of  this  wide  earth,  Mr.  Pres- 
ident, there  is  not  one  disinterested,  determined, 
intelligent  champion  of  the  Union  Cause  who  does 
not  feel  that  all  attempts  to  put  down  the  Rebel- 
lion and  at  the  same  time  uphold  its  inciting 
cause  are  preposterous  and  futile — that  the  Re- 
bellion, if  crushed  out  to-morrow,  would  be  re- 
newed within  a  year  if  Slavery  were  left  in  full 
vigor — that  the  army  of  officers  who  remain  to 
this  day  devoted  to  Slavery  can  at  best  be  but 
half  way  loyal  to  the  Union — and  that  every  hour 
of  deference  to  Slavery  is  an  hour  of  added  and 
deepened  peril  to  the  Union.  ... 

"  IX.  I  close  as  I  began  with  the  statement  that 
what  an  immense  majority  of  the  Loyal  Millions 


LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY.  301 

of  your  countrymen  require  of  you  is  a  frank, 
declared,  unqualified,  ungrudging  execution  of 
the  laws  of  the  land,  more  especially  of  the  Con- 
fiscation Act.  ...  As  one  of  the  millions  who 
would  gladly  have  avoided  this  struggle  at  any 
sacrifice  but  that  of  Principle  and  Honor,  but 
who  now  feel  that  the  triumph  of  the  Union  is 
indispensable  not  only  to  the  existence  of  our 
country,  but  to  the  well-being  of  mankind,  I  en- 
treat you  to  render  a  hearty  and  uneqivocal  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  of  the  land. 

"  Yours, 

"  Horace  Greeley. 

"  New  York,  August  19,  1862." 

Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  eccentricities 
of  this  able  editor  will  not  be  slow  to  believe  that, 
had  Lincoln,  previous  to  the  writing  of  that 
letter,  done  the  very  things  he  called  for,  Greeley 
would  not  improbably,  have  been  among  the 
first  to  attack  him  with  his  caustic  criticism. 
Lincoln  was  not  ignorant  of  this.  But  he  seized 
this  opportunity  to  address  a  far  wider  constitu- 
ency than  that  represented  in  the  subscription 
list  of  the  Tribune.  His  reply  was  published  in 
the  Washington  Star.  He  puts  the  matter  so 
temperately  and   plainly  that  the  most  obtuse 


302  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

could  not  fail  to  see  the  reasoiaableness  of  it.     As 
to  Greeley,  we  do  not  hear  from  him  again,  and 
may  assume  that  he  was  silenced  if  not  convinced. 
The  reply  was  as  follows  : 

"  Executive  Mansion, 
"  Washington,  August  32, 1862. 

"  Hon.  Horace  Greeley, 

''Dear  Sir:  I  have  just  read  yours  of  the 
19th,  addressed  to  myself  through  the  New  York 
Tribune.  If  there  be  in  it  any  statements,  or 
assumptions  of  fact,  which  I  may  know  to  be 
erroneous,  I  do  not,  now  and  here,  controvert 
them.  If  there  be  in  it  any  inferences  which  I 
may  believe  to  be  falsely  drawn,  I  do  not,  now 
and  here,  argue  against  them.  If  there  be  per- 
ceptible in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I 
waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend,  whose 
heart  I  have  always  supposed  to  be  right.  As  to 
the  policy  I  '  seem  to  be  pursuing,'  as  you  say,  I 
have  not  meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I  would 
save  the  Union.  I  would  save  it  the  shortest  way 
under  the  Constitution.  The  sooner  the  national 
authority  can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the  Union 
will  be  '  the  Union  as  it  was.'  If  there  be  those 
who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could 
at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree 


LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY.  303 

with  them.  If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save 
the  Union  unless  they  could  at  the  same  time 
destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them.  My 
paramount  object  in  this  struggle  is  to  save  the 
Union,  and  is  not  either  to  save  or  to  destroy 
slavery.  If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  free- 
ing any  slave,  I  would  do  it  ;  if  I  could  save  it  by 
freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it ;  and  if  I 
could  save  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others 
alone,  I  would  also  do  that.  What  I  do  about 
slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I  believe 
it  helps  to  save  the  Union  :  and  what  I  forbear, 
I  forbear  because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help 
to  save  the  Union.  I  shall  do  less  whenever  I 
shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts  the  cause, 
and  I  shall  do  more  whenever  I  shall  believe  doing 
more  will  help  the  cause.  I  shall  try  to  correct 
errors  when  shown  to  be  errors,  and  I  shall  adopt 
new  views  so  fast  as  they  shall  appear  to  be  true 
views.  I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according 
to  my  view  of  official  duty ;  and  I  intend  no 
modification  of  my  oft  expressed  personal  wish 
that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free. 

"Yours, 

'^A.  Lincoln," 

Not  the  least  interesting  fact  connected  with 


304  I^^FE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

this  subject  is  that  at  this  very  time  Lincoln  had 
the  Emancipation  Proclamation  in  mind.  But 
not  even  the  exasperating  teasing  that  is  fairly- 
represented  by  Greeley's  letter  caused  him  to  put 
forth  that  proclamation  prematurely.  It  is  no 
slight  mark  of  greatness  that  he  was  able  under 
so  great  pressure  to  bide  his  time. 

This  was  not  the  last  of  Greeley's  efforts  to 
control  the  President  or  run  the  machine.  In 
1864  he  was  earnestly  opposed  to  his  renomina- 
tion  but  finally  submitted  to  the  inevitable. 

In  Jul}^  of  that  year,  1864,  two  prominent  Con- 
federates, Clay  of  Alabama,  and  Thompson  of 
Mississippi,  managed  to  use  Greeley  for  their 
purposes.  They  communicated  with  him  from 
Canada,  professing  to  have  authority  to  arrange 
for  terms  of  peace,  and  they  asked  for  a  safe- 
conduct  to  Washington.  Greeley  fell  into  the 
trap  but  Lincoln  did  not.  There  is  little  doubt 
that  their  real  scheme  was  to  foment  discontent 
and  secure  division  throughout  the  North  on  the 
eve  of  the  presidential  election.  Lincoln  wrote 
to  Greeley  as  follows  : 

"  If  you  can  find  any  person,  anywhere,  pro- 
fessing to  have  authority  from  Jefferson  Davis, 
ia  writing,  embracing  the  restoration  of  the  Union 


LINCOLN  AND  GREELEY.  305 

and  the  abandonment  of  slavery,  whatever  else  it 
embraces,  say  to  him  that  he  may  come  to  me 
with  you." 

Under  date  of  July  18,  he  wrote  the  following  : 

"  To  whom  it  may  concern  : 

"  Any  proposition  which  embraces  the  restora- 
tion of  peace,  the  integrity  of  the  whole  Union, 
and  the  abandonment  of  slavery,  and  which  comes 
by  and  with  an  authority  that  can  control  the 
armies  now  at  war  with  the  United  States,  will 
be  received  and  considered  by  the  Executive 
government  of  the  United  States,  and  will  be 
met  on  liberal  terms  on  substantial  and  col- 
lateral points  ;  and  the  bearer  or  bearers  thereof 
shall  have  safe-conduct  both  ways. 

"  Abraham  Lincoln." 

Greeley  met  these  "  commissioners  "  at  Niagara, 
but  it  turned  out  that  they  had  no  authority 
whatever  from  the  Confederate  government. 
The  whole  affair  was  therefore  a  mere  fiasco. 
But  Greeley,  who  had  been  completely  duped, 
was  full  of  wrath,  and  persistently  misrepresented, 
not  to  say  maligned,  the  President.  According 
to  Noah  Brooks,  the  President  said  of  the  affair  : 

"Well,  it's  hardly  fair  to  say  that   this  won't 

20 


306  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

amount  to  anything.  It  will  shut  up  Greeley, 
and  satisfy  the  people  who  are  clamoring  for 
peace.  That's  something,  anyhow,"  The  Pres- 
ident was  too  hopeful.  It  did  not  accomplish  quite 
that,  for  Greeley  was  very  persistent  ;  but  it  did 
prevent  a  serious  division  of  the  North. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

EMANCIPATION. 

The    institution    of    slavery  was  always  and 

only  hateful  to  the  earnest  and  honest  nature  of 

Lincoln.     He  detested  it  with  all  the  energy  of 

his  soul.     He  would,    as  he  said,   gladly  have 

swept  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth.     Not  even 

the    extreme    abolitionists,     Garrison,    Wendell 

Phillips,    Whittier,    abominated     slavery    with 

more  intensity  than  Lincoln.     But  he  did  not  show 

his  hostility  in  the  same  way.     He  had  a  wider 

scope  of  vision  than  they.     He  had,  and  they  had 

not,    an    appreciative    historical    knowledge    of 

slavery  in  this  country.     He  knew  that  it  was 

tolerated  by  the  Constitution  and  laws  enacted 

within  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution,  though 

he  believed  that  the  later  expansion  of  slavery 

was  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the  men 

who  framed  the  Constitution.     And   he  believed 

that  slaveholders  had  legal  rights  which  should 

be  respected  by  all  orderly  citizens.    His  sympathy 

with  the  slave  did  not  cripple  his  consideration 

307 


308  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

for  the  slave-owner  who  had  inherited  his  property 
in  that  form,  and  under  a  constitution  and  laws 
which  he  did  not  originate  and  for  which  he  was 
not  responsible. 

He  would  destroy  slavery  root  and  branch,  but 
he  would  do  it  in  a  manner  conformable  to  the 
Constitution,  not  in  violation  of  it.  He  would 
exterminate  it,  but  he  would  not  so  do  it  as  to 
impoverish  law-abiding  citizens  whose  property 
was  in  slaves.  He  would  eliminate  slavery,  but 
not  in  a  way  to  destroy  the  country,  for  that 
would  entail  more  mischief  than  benefit.  To  use 
a  figure,  he  would  throw  Jonah  overboard,  but 
he  would  not  upset  the  ship  in  the  act. 

Large  numbers  of  people  have  a  limited  scope 
of  knowledge.  Such  overlooked  the  real  benefits 
of  our  civilization,  and  did  not  realize  that 
wrecking  the  constitution  would  simply  destroy 
the  good  that  had  thus  far  been  achieved,  and 
uproot  the  seeds  of  promise  of  usefulness  for  the 
centuries  to  come.  They  wanted  slavery  destroyed 
at  once,  violently,  regardless  of  the  disastrous 
consequences.  On  the  other  hand,  Lincoln  wanted 
it  destroyed,  but  by  a  sure  and  rational  process. 
He  wished — and  from  this  he  never  swerved — to 
do  also  two  things  :  first,  to  compensate  the 
owners  of  the  slaves,  and  second  to  provide  for 


EMANCIPATION.  309 

the  future  of  the  slaves  themselves.  Of  course, 
the  extreme  radicals  could  not  realize  that  he 
was  more  intensely  opposed  to  slavery  than 
themselves. 

Let  us  now  glance  at  his  record.  We  have 
already  seen  (in  chapter  v.)  how  he  revolted  from 
the  first  view  of  the  horrors  of  the  institution, 
and  the  youthful  vow  which  he  there  recorded 
will  not  readily  be  forgotten.  That  was  in  1831 
when  he  was  twenty-two  years  of  age. 

Six  years  later,  or  in  1837,  when  he  was  a 
youthful  member  of  the  Illinois  legislature,  he 
persuaded  Stone  to  join  him  in  a  protest  against 
slavery.  There  was  positively  nothing  to  be 
gained  by  this  protest,  either  personally  or  in  be- 
half of  the  slave.  The  only  possible  reason  for  it 
was  that  he  believed  that  slavery  was  wrong  and 
could  not  rest  until  he  had  openly  expressed  that 
belief.  "A  timely  utterance  gave  that  thought 
relief,  And  I  again  am  strong." 

When  he  was  in  congress,  in  1846,  the  famous 
Wilmot  Proviso  came  up.  This  was  to  provide 
"  that,  as  an  express  and  fundamental  condition 
to  the  acquisition  of  any  territory  from  the  re- 
public of  Mexico  by  the  United  States  .  .  . 
neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude  shall 
ever  exist  in  any  part  of  the  said  territory."    By 


310  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 

reason  of  amendments,  this  subject  came  before 
the  house  very  many  times,  and  Lincoln  said 
afterwards  that  he  had  voted  for  the  proviso  in 
one  form  or  another  forty-two  times. 

On  the  16th  day  of  January,  1849,  he  introduced 
into  congress  a  bill  for  the  emancipation  of  slavery 
in  the  District  of  Columbia,  This  was  a  wise  and 
reasonable  bill.  It  gave  justice  to  all,  and  at  the 
same  time  gathered  all  the  fruits  of  emancipation 
in  the  best  possible  way.  The  bill  did  not  pass, 
there  was  no  hope  at  the  time  that  it  would  pass. 
But  it  compelled  a  reasonable  discussion  of  the 
subject  and  had  a  certain  amount  of  educational 
influence. 

It  is  interesting  that,  thirteen  years  later,  April 
10,  1862,  he  had  the  privilege  of  fixing  his  pres- 
idential signature  to  a  bill  similar  to  his  own. 
Congress  had  moved  up  to  his  position.  When 
he  signed  the  bill,  he  said  :  "  Little  did  I  dream, 
in  1849,  when  I  proposed  to  abolish  slavery  in 
this  capital,  and  could  scarcely  get  a  hearing  for 
the  proposition,  that  it  would  be  so  soon  accom- 
plished." 

After  the  expiration  of  his  term  in  congress  he 
left  political  life,  as  he  supposed,  forever.  He 
went  into  the  practise  of  the  law  in  earnest,  and 
was  so  engaged  at  the  time  of  the  repeal  of  the 


EMANCIPATION.  311 

Missouri  Compromise  which  called  him  back  to 
the  arena  of  politics. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  war  there  were  certain 
attempts  at  emancipation  which  Lincoln  held  in 
check  for  the  reason  that  the  time  for  them  had 
not  arrived.  "There's  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of 
men."  It  is  of  prime  importance  that  this  tide 
be  taken  at  the  flood.  So  far  as  emancipation 
was  concerned,  this  came  in  slower  than  the 
eagerness  of  Generals  Fremont  and  Hunter.  But 
it  was  coming,  and  in  the  meantime  Lincoln  was 
doing  what  he  could  to  help  matters  on.  The 
difficulty  was  that  if  the  Union  was  destroyed  it 
would  be  the  death-blow  to  the  cause  of  eman- 
cipation. At  the  same  time  not  a  few  loyal  men 
were  slaveholders.  To  alienate  these  by  pre- 
mature action  would  be  disastrous.  The  only 
wise  plan  of  action  was  to  wait  patiently  until  a 
sufficient  number  of  these  could  be  depended  on 
in  the  emergency  of  emancipation.  This  was 
what  Lincoln  was  doing. 

The  first  part  of  the  year  1862  was  very  trying. 
The  North  had  expected  to  march  rapidly  and 
triumpliantly  into  Kichmond.  This  had  not  been 
accomplished,  but  on  the  contrary  disaster  had 
followed  disaster  in  battle,  and  after  many 
months  the  two  armies  were  encamped  facing 


312  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

each  other  and  almost  in  sight  of  Washington, 
while  the  soldiers  from  the  North  were  rapidly 
sickening  and  dying  in  the  Southern  camps. 
Small  wonder  if  there  was  an  impatient  clamor. 

A  serious  result  of  this  delay  was  the  danger 
arising  from  European  sources.  The  monarchies 
of  Europe  had  no  sympathy  with  American  free- 
dom. They  became  impatient  with  the  reports 
of  ''no  progress"  in  the  war,  and  at  this  time 
some  of  them  were  watching  for  a  pretext  to  rec- 
ognize the  Southern  Confederacy.  This  came 
vividly  to  the  knowledge  of  Carl  Schurz,  minister 
to  Spain.  By  permission  of  the  President  he  re- 
turned to  this  country — this  was  late  in  January, 
1862 — to  lay  the  matter  personally  before  him. 
With  the  help  of  Schurz,  Lincoln  proceeded  to  de- 
velop the  sentiment  for  emancipation.  By  his  re- 
quest Schurz  went  to  New  York  to  address  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Emancipation  Society  on  March  6th. 
It  need  not  be  said  that  the  speaker  delivered  a 
most  able  and  eloquent  plea  upon  "  Emancipation 
as  a  Peace  Measure."  Lincoln  also  made  a 
marked  contribution  to  the  meeting.  He  tele- 
graphed to  Schurz  the  text  of  his  message  to 
congress  recommending  emancipation  in  the 
District  of  Columbia, — which  resulted  in  the  law 
already  mentioned, — and  this  message  of  Lincoln 


EMANCIPATION.  313 

was  read  to  the  meeting.  The  effect  of  it,  follow- 
ing the  speech  of  Schurz,  was  overwhelming.  It 
was  quite  enough  to  satisfy  the  most  sanguine 
expectations.  This  was  not  a  coincidence,  it  was 
a  plan,  Lincoln's  hand  in  the  luhole  matter  was 
not  seen  nor  suspected  for  many  years  after.  It 
gave  a  marked  impetus  to  the  sentiment  of  eman- 
cipation. 

To  the  loyal  slaveholders  of  the  border  states 
he  made  a  proposal  of  compensated  emancipation. 
To  his  great  disappointment  they  rejected  this. 
It  was  very  foolish  on  their  part,  and  he  cau- 
tioned them  that  they  might  find  worse  trouble. 

All  this  time,  while  holding  back  the  eager 
spirits  of  the  abolitionists,  he  was  preparing  for 
his  final  stroke.  But  it  was  of  capital  impor- 
tance that  this  should  not  be  premature.  McClel- 
lan's  failure  to  take  Richmond  and  his  persistent 
delay,  hastened  the  result.  The  community  at 
large  became  impatient  beyond  all  bounds. 
There  came  about  a  feeling  that  something  radi- 
cal must  be  done,  and  that  quickly.  But  it  was 
still  necessary  that  he  should  be  patient.  As  the 
bravest  fireman  is  the  last  to  leave  the  burning 
structure,  so  the  wise  statesman  must  hold  him- 
self in  check  until  the  success  of  so  important  a 
measure  is  assured  beyond  a  doubt. 


314:  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

An  event  which  occurred  later  may  be  narrated 
here  because  it  illustrates  the  feeling  which  Lin- 
coln always  had  in  regard  to  slavery.  The  item 
was  written  out  by  the  President  himself  and 
given  to  the  newspapers  for  publication  under  the 
heading, 


li 


The  President's  Last,  Shortest,  and  Best 

Speech. 

"  On  Thursday  of  last  week,  two  ladies  from 
Tennessee  came  before  the  President,  asking  the 
release  of  their  husbands,  held  as  prisoners  of 
war  at  Johnson's  Island.  They  were  put  off  un- 
til Friday,  when  they  came  again,  and  were  again 
put  off  until  Saturday.  At  each  of  the  inter- 
views one  of  the  ladies  urged  that  her  husband 
was  a  religious  man.  On  Saturday,  when  the 
President  ordered  the  release  of  the  prisoners,  he 
said  to  this  lady  :  You  say  your  husband  is  a 
religious  man  ;  tell  him  when  you  meet  him  that 
I  say  I  am  not  much  of  a  judge  of  religion,  but 
that,  in  my  opinion,  the  religion  that  sets  men  to 
rebel  and  fight  against  their  government  because, 
as  they  think,  that  government  does  not  suffi- 
ciently help  some  men  to  eat  their  bread  in  the 
sweat  of  other  men's  faces,  is  not  the  sort  of  relig- 
ion upon  which  people  can  get  to  heaven." 


EMANCIPATION.  315 

As  the  dreadful  summer  of  1862  advanced, 
Lincoln  noted  surely  that  the  thne  was  at  hand 
when  emancipation  would  be  the  master  stroke. 
In  discussing  the  possibilities  of  this  measure  he 
seemed  to  take  the  opposite  side.  This  was  a 
fixed  habit  with  him.  He  drew  out  the  thoughts 
of  other  people.  He  was  enabled  to  see  the  sub- 
ject from  all  sides.  Even  after  his  mind  was 
made  up  to  do  a  certain  thing,  he  would  still 
argue  against  it.  But  in  any  other  sense  than 
this  he  took  counsel  of  no  one  upon  the  emancipa- 
tion measure.  The  work  was  his  work.  He  pre- 
sented his  tentative  proclamation  to  the  cabinet 
on  the  22d  of  July,  1862.  The  rest  of  the  story 
is  best  told  in  Lincoln's  own  words  : — 

"It  had  got  to  be  midsummer,  1862.  Things 
had  gone  on  from  bad  to  worse,  until  I  felt  that 
we  had  reached  the  end  of  our  rope  on  the  plan 
of  operations  we  had  been  pursuing  ;  that  we 
had  about  played  our  last  card,  and  must  change 
our  tactics  or  lose  the  game.  I  now  determined 
upon  the  adoption  of  the  emancipation  policy  ; 
and  without  consultation  with,  or  knowledge  of, 
the  cabinet,  I  prepared  the  original  draft  of  the 
proclamation,  and  after  much  anxious  thought 
called  a  cabinet  meeting  upon  the  subject.  ...  I 
said  to  the  cabinet  that  I  had  resolved  upon  this 


316  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

step,  and  had  not  called  them  together  to  ask 
their  advice,  but  to  lay  the  subject-matter  of 
a  proclamation  before  them,  suggestions  as  to 
which  would  be  in  order  after  they  had  heard  it 
read." 

The  members  of  the  cabinet  offered  various 
suggestions,  but  none  which  Lincoln  had  not 
fully  anticipated.  Seward  approved  the  measure 
but  thought  the  time  not  opportune.  There  had 
been  so  many  reverses  in  the  war,  that  he  feared 
the  effect.  "It  may  be  viewed,"  he  said,  ''as 
the  last  measure  of  an  exhausted  government,  a 
cry  for  help  ;  the  government  stretching  forth  its 
hands  to  Ethiopia,  instead  of  Ethiopia  stretching 
forth  her  hands  to  the  government."  He  then 
suggested  that  the  proclamation  be  not  issued 
until  it  could  be  given  to  the  country  supported 
by  military  successes.  This  seemed  to  Lincoln  a 
wise  suggestion,  and  he  acted  on  it.  The  docu- 
ment was  laid  away  for  the  time. 

It  was  not  until  September  17th  that  the  looked- 
for  success  came.  The  Confederate  army  had 
crossed  the  Potomac  with  the  intention  of  invad- 
ing the  North.  They  were  met  and  completely 
defeated  in  the  battle  of  Antietam.  Lincoln  said 
of  it :  "  When  Lee  came  over  the  river,  I  made 
a  resolution  that  if  McClellan  drove  him  back  I 


EMANCIPATION.  317 

would  send  the  proclamation  after  him.  The 
battle  of  Antietam  was  fought  Wednesday,  and 
until  Saturday  I  could  not  find  out  whether  we 
had  gained  a  victory  or  lost  a  battle.  It  was  then 
too  late  to  issue  the  proclamation  that  day  ;  and 
the  fact  is  I  fixed  it  up  a  little  Sunday,  and  Mon- 
day I  let  them  have  it. " 

This  was  the  preliminary  proclamation  and 
was  issued  September  22d.  The  supplementary 
document,  the  real  proclamation  of  emancipation, 
was  issued  January  1,  1863.  As  the  latter 
covers  substantially  the  ground  of  the  former, 
it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  both  and  only  the 
second  one  is  given. 

Emancipation  Proclamation. 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-second  day  of  Sep- 
tember, in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-two,  a  proclamation  was 
issued  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  con- 
taining, among  other  things,  the  following,  to 
wit : — 

That  on  the  first  day  of  January  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty- three,  all  persons  held  as  slaves  within  any 
state,  or  designated  part  of  a  state,  the  people 


318  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

whereof  shall  then  be  in  rebellion  against  the 
United  States,  shall  be  then,  thenceforward  and 
forever  free,  and  the  Executive  Government  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authority  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main- 
tain the  freedom  of  such  persons,  and  will  do  no 
act  or  acts  to  repress  such  persons,  or  any  of  them, 
in  any  efforts  they  may  make  for  their  actual 
freedom. 

That  the  Executive  will,  on  the  first  day  of 
January  aforesaid  by  proclamation,  designate  the 
states  and  part  of  states,  if  any,  in  which  the 
people  thereof  respectively  shall  then  be  in  re- 
bellion against  the  United  States  ;  and  the  fact 
that  any  state,  or  the  people  thereof,  shall  on 
that  day  be  in  good  faith  represented  in  the  con- 
gress of  the  United  States  by  members  chosen 
thereto  at  elections  wherein  a  majority  of  the 
qualified  voters  of  such  state  shall  have  partici- 
pated, shall,  in  the  absence  of  strong  counter- 
vailing testimony,  be  deemed  conclusive  evidence 
that  such  state  and  the  people  thereof  are  not 
then  in  rebellion  against  the  United  States  : — 

Now,  therefore,  I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  President 

of  the  United  States,  by  virtue  of  the  power  in 

me  vested  as  commander  in-chief  of   the   army 

^        and  navy  of  the  United  States^  in  time  of  actual 


EMANCIPATION.  319 

armed  rebellion  against  the  authority  of,  and 
government  of,  the  United  States,  and  as  a  fit 
and  necessary  war  measure  for  suppressing  said 
rebellion,  do,  on  this  first  day  of  January,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred 
and  sixty-three,  and  in  accordance  with  my  pur- 
pose so  to  do,  publicly  proclaimed  for  the  full 
period  of  one  hundred  days  from  the  day  first 
above  mentioned,  order,  and  designate,  as  the 
states  and  parts  of  states  wherein  the  people 
thereof  respectively  are  this  day  in  rebellion 
against  the  United  States  [here  follows  the  list]. 

And  by  virtue  of  the  power  and  for  the  pur- 
pose aforesaid,  I  do  order  and  declare  that  all  per- 
sons held  as  slaves  within  said  designated  states 
and  parts  of  states,  are  and  henceforward  shall 
be  free  ;  and  that  the  executive  government  of 
the  United  States,  including  the  military  and 
naval  authorities  thereof,  will  recognize  and  main- 
tain the  freedom  of  said  persons. 

And  I  hereby  enjoin  upon  the  people  so  declared 
to  be  free,  to  abstain  from  all  violence,  unless  in 
necessary  self-defense,  and  I  recommend  to  them, 
that  in  all  cases,  when  allowed,  they  labor  faith- 
fully for  reasonable  wages. 

And  I  further  declare  and  make  known  that 
such  persons  of  suitable  condition  will  be  received 


320  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

into  the  armed  service  of  the  United  States  to  gar- 
rison forts,  positions,  stations,  and  other  places, 
and  to  man  vessels  of  all  sorts  in  said  service. 

And  upon  this  act,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an 
act  of  justice,  warranted  by  the  Constitution, 
upon  military  necessity,  I  invoke  the  considerate 
judgment  of  mankind  and  the  gracious  favor  of 
almighty  God. 

In  Testimony  ivhereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my 
name  and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to 
be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  this  first  day 
of  January,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-three,  and  of  the  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States  of  America  the 

eighty-seventh. 

Abraham  Lincoln. 
By  the  President : 

William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of  State. 

So  he  fulfilled  his  youthful  vow.  He  had  hit 
that  thing,  and  he  had  hit  it  hard  !  From  that 
blow  the  cursed  institution  of  slavery  will  not 
recover  in  a  thousand  years. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

DISCOURAGEMENTS. 

The  middle  period  of  the  war  was  gloomy  and 
discouraging.  Though  the  Confederates  made 
no  substantial  progress  they  certainly  held  their 
own.  Time  is  an  important  factor  in  all  history, 
and  the  fact  that  the  Confederates  at  least  gained 
time  counted  heavily  against  the  Union.  There 
were  no  decisive  victories  gained  by  the  Federal 
troops.  Antietam,  to  be  sure,  was  won,  but  the 
fruits  of  the  victory  were  lost.  For  many 
months  the  two  armies  continued  facing  each 
other,  and  for  the  most  part  they  were  much 
nearer  Washington  than  Richmond. 

Meantime  the  summer,  fall,  winter  were  pass- 
ing by  and  there  was  no  tangible  evidence  that 
the  government  would  ever  be  able  to  maintain 
its  authority.  All  this  time  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  was  magnificent  in  numbers,  equipment, 
intelligence.  In  every  respect  but  one  they  were 
decidedly  superior  to  the  enemy.    The  one  thing 

they  needed  was  leadership.      The  South  had 
21  321 


322  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

generals  of  the  first  grade.  The  generalship  of 
the  North  had  not  yet  fully  developed. 

Lincoln  held  on  to  McClellan  as  long  as  it  was 
possible  to  do  so.  He  never  resented  the  personal 
discourtesies.  He  never  wearied  of  the  fruitless 
task  of  urging  him  on.  He  never  refused  to  let 
him  have  his  own  way  provided  he  could  show  a 
reason  for  it.  But  his  persistent  inactivity  wore 
out  the  patience  of  the  country  and  finally  of  the 
army  itself.  With  the  exception  of  northern 
democrats  with  southern  sj^mpathies,  who  from 
the  first  were  sure  of  only  one  thing,  namely,  that 
the  war  was  a  failure,  the  clamor  for  the  removal 
of  McClellan  was  well-nigh  unanimous.  To  this 
clamor  Lincoln  yielded  only  when  it  became 
manifestly  foolish  longer  to  resist  it. 

A  succeeding  question  was  no  less  important  : 
Who  shall  take  his  place  ?  There  was  in  the  East 
no  general  whose  record  would  entitle  him  to  this 
position  of  honor  and  responsibility.  In  all  the 
country  there  was  at  that  time  no  one  whose  suc- 
cesses were  so  conspicuous  as  to  point  him  out  as 
the  coming  man.  But  there  were  generals  who 
had  done  good  service,  and  just  at  that  time. 
Burnside  was  at  the  height  of  his  success.  He 
was  accordingly  appointed.  His  record  was  good. 
He  was  an  unusually  handsome  man,  of  soldierly 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  323 

bearing,  and  possessed  many  valuable  qualities. 
He  was  warmly  welcomed  by  the  country  at  large 
and  by  his  own  army,  who  thanked  God  and  took 
courage. 

His  first  battle  as  commander  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  was  fought  at  Fredericksburg  on  the 
15th  of  December  and  resulted  in  his  being  re- 
pulsed with  terrible  slaughter.  It  is  possible,  in 
this  as  in  every  other  battle,  that  had  certain 
things  been  a  little  different, — had  it  been  possi- 
ble to  fight  the  battle  three  weeks  earlier, — he 
would  have  won  a  glorious  victory.  But  these 
thoughts  do  not  bring  to  life  the  men  who  were 
slain  in  battle,  nor  do  they  quiet  the  clamor  of 
the  country.  Burnside  showed  a  certain  persist- 
ence when,  in  disregard  of  the  unanimous  judg- 
ment of  his  generals,  he  tried  to  force  a  march 
through  the  heavy  roads  of  Virginia,  as  sticky  as 
glue,  and  give  battle  again.  But  he  got  stuck  in 
the  mud  and  the  plan  was  given  up,  the  only 
casualty,  being  the  death  of  a  large  number  of 
mules  that  were  killed  trying  to  draw  wagons 
through  the  bottomless  mud.  After  this  one 
battle,  it  was  plain  that  Burnside  was  not  the 
coming  general. 

The  next   experiment    was    with     Hooker,   a 
valiant  and  able  man,  whose  warlike  qualities  are 


324  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

suggested  by  his  well-earned  soubriquet  of  ''fight- 
ing Joe  Hooker."  He  had  his  limitations,  as  will 
presently  appear.  But  upon  appointing  him  to 
the  command  Lincoln  wrote  him  a  personal  letter. 
This  letter  is  here  reproduced  because  it  is  a  per- 
fect illustration  of  the  kindly  patience  of  the  man 
who  had  need  of  so  much  patience  : 

•'  Executive  Mansion, 
"  Washington,  D.  C,  January  26,  1863. 

"  Major-General  Hooker, 

"  General  :  I  have  placed  you  at  the  head  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Of  course  I  have  done 
this  upon  what  appears  to  me  to  be  sufficient  rea- 
sons, and  yet  I  think  it  best  for  you  to  know  that 
there  are  some  things  in  regard  to  which  I  am 
not  satisfied  with  you.  I  believe  you  to  be  a  brave 
and  skilful  soldier,  which  of  course  I  like.  I  also 
believe  that  you  do  not  mix  politics  with  your  pro- 
fession, in  which  you  are  right.  You  have  confi- 
dence in  yourself,  which  is  a  valuable,  if  not  in- 
dispensable, quality.  You  are  ambitious,  which, 
within  reason,  does  good  rather  than  harm  ;  but 
I  think  that  during  General  Burnside's  command 
of  the  army  you  have  taken  counsel  of  your  am- 
bition and  thwarted  him  as  much  as  you  could, 
in  which  you  did  a  great  wrong  to  the  country. 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  325 

and  to  a  most  meritorious  and  honorable  brother 
officer.  I  have  heard,  in  such  a  way  as  to  believe 
it,  of  your  recently  saying  that  both  the  army  and 
the  government  needed  a  dictator.  Of  course  it 
was  not  for  this,  but  in  spite  of  it,  that  I  have 
given  you  the  command.  Only  those  generals 
who  gain  success  can  be  dictators.  What  I  now 
ask  of  you  is  military  success,  and  I  will  risk  the 
dictatorship.  The  government  will  support  you 
to  the  utmost  of  its  ability,  which  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  it  has  done  and  will  do  for  all  com- 
manders. I  much  fear  that  the  spirit  you  have 
ained  to  infuse  into  the  army,  of  criticising  their 
commander  and  withholding  confidence  from  him, 
will  now  turn  upon  you.  I  shall  assist  you  as  far 
as  I  can  to  put  it  down.  Neither  you,  nor  Napo- 
leon, if  he  were  alive  again,  could  get  any  good 
out  of  an  army  while  such  a  spirit  prevails  in  it. 
And  now,  beware  of  rashness.  Beware  of  rash- 
ness, but,  with  energy  and  sleepless  vigilance,  go 
forward  and  give  us  victories. 

' '  Yours,  very  truly, 

"A.  Lincoln." 

The  first  effect  of  this  letter  was  to  subdue  the 
fractious  spirit  of  the  fighter.  He  said,  "  That  is 
just  such  a  letter  as  a  father  might  write  to  a  son. 
It  is  a  beautiful  letter,  and  although  I  think  ho 


326  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  harder  on  me  than  I  deserved,  I  will  say  that 
I  love  the  man  who  wrote  it," 

But  later  his  conceit  took  possession  of  him. 
According  to  Noah  Brooks  he  said  to  some  friends  ; 
"I  suppose  you  have  seen  this  letter  or  a  copy  of 
it?"  They  had.  "After  I  have  been  to  Eich- 
mond  I  shall  have  the  letter  published  in  the 
newspapers.  It  will  be  amusing."  When  this 
was  told  Lincoln  he  took  the  good-natured  view 
of  it  and  only  said,  "  Poor  Hooker  !  I  am  afraid 
he  is  incorrigible," 

It  was  in  January,  1863,  that  Hooker  took  com- 
mand of  the  army.  Three  months  later  he  had 
it  in  shape  for  the  campaign,  and  Lincoln  went 
down  to  see  the  review.  It  was  indeed  a  mag- 
nificent army,  an  inspiring  sight.  But  it  was 
noticed  by  many  that  Lincoln's  face  had  not  the 
joyous  radiancy  of  hope  which  it  had  formerly 
worn  ;  it  was  positively  haggard.  It  was  plain 
that  he  did  not  share  his  general's  easy  confidence. 
He  could  not  forget  that  he  had  more  than  once 
seen  an  army  magnificent  before  battle,  and  shat- 
tered after  battle.  He  spent  a  week  there,  talk- 
ing with  the  generals,  shaking  hands  with  "the 
boys."  Many  a  private  soldier  of  that  day  carries 
to  this  day  as  a  sacred  memory  the  earnest  sound 
of  the  President's  voice,  "  God  bless  you  !  " 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  327 

Then  came  Chancellorsville  with  its  sickening 
consequences.  When  the  news  came  to  Wash- 
ington, the  President,  with  streaming  eyes,  could 
only  exclaim  :  '^  My  God,  my  God  !  what  will  the 
country  say  ? " 

The  next  we  hear  of  Hooker,  he  had  not  en- 
tered Richmond  nor  had  he  found  the  amusement 
of  publishing  the  President's  fatherly  letter.  He 
was  chasing  Lee  in  a  northerly  direction, — to- 
wards Philadelphia  or  New  York.  He  became 
angry  with  Halleck  who  refused  him  something 
and  summarily  resigned.  It  was  not,  for  the 
country,  an  opportune  time  for  changing  generals, 
but  perhaps  it  was  as  well.  It  certainly  shows 
that  while  Lincoln  took  him  as  the  best  material 
at  hand,  while  he  counseled,  encouraged,  and  bore 
with  him,  yet  his  diagnosis  of  Hooker's  foibles 
was  correct,  and  his  fears,  not  his  hopes,  were 
realized. 

He  was  succeeded  by  George  C.  Meade,  "  four- 
eyed  George,"  as  he  was  playfully  called  by  his 
loyal  soldiers,  in  allusion  to  his  eyeglasses.  It 
was  only  a  few  days  later  that  the  great  battle  of 
Gettysburg  was  fought  under  Meade,  and  a  bril- 
liant victory  was  achieved.  But  here,  as  at  An- 
tietam,  the  triumph  was  bitterly  marred  by  the 
disappointment   that    followed.     The   victorious 


328  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

army  let  the  defeated  army  get  away.  The  ex- 
cuses were  about  the  same  as  at  Antietam, — the 
troops  were  tired.  Of  course  they  were  tired. 
But  it  may  be  assumed  that  the  defeated  army 
was  also  tired.  It  surely  makes  one  army  quite 
as  tired  to  suffer  defeat  as  it  makes  the  other  to 
achieve  victory.  It  was  again  a  golden  opportu- 
nity to  destroy  Lee's  army  and  end  the  war. 

Perhaps  Meade  had  achieved  enough  for  one 
man  in  winning  Gettysburg.  It  would  not  be 
strange  if  the  three  days'  battle  had  left  him 
with  nerves  unstrung.  The  fact  remains  that  he 
did  not  pursue  and  annihilate  the  defeated  army. 
They  were  permitted  to  recross  the  Potomac  with- 
out molestation,  to  reenter  what  may  be  called 
their  own  territory,  to  reorganize,  rest,  reequip, 
and  in  due  time  to.  reappear  as  formidable  as 
ever.  It  is  plain  that  the  hero  of  Gettysburg  was 
not  the  man  destined  to  crush  the  rebellion. 

Here  were  three  men,  Burnside,  Hooker,  and 
Meade,  all  good  men  and  gallant  soldiers.  But 
not  one  of  them  was  able  successfully  to  command 
so  large  an  army,  or  to  do  the  thing  most  needed, 
— capture  Richmond.  The  future  hero  had  not 
yet  won  the  attention  of  the  country. 

In  the  meantime  affairs  were  very  dark  for  the 
administration,  and  up  to  the  summer  of  1863 


DISCOURAGEMENTS.  329 

had  been  growing  darker  and  darker.  Some 
splendid  military  success  had  been  accomplished 
in  the  West,  but  the  West  is  at  best  a  vague  term 
even  to  this  da}^,  and  it  has  always  seemed  so 
remote  from  the  capital,  especially  as  compared 
to  the  limited  theater  of  war  in  Virginia  where 
the  Confederate  army  was  almost  within  sight  of 
the  capital,  that  these  western  victories  did  not 
have  as  much  influence  as  they  should  have  had. 

And  there  were  signal  reverses  in  the  West, 
too.  Both  Louisville  and  Cincinnati  were  seri- 
ously threatened,  and  the  battle  of  Chickamauga 
was  another  field  of  slaughter,  even  though  it 
was  shortly  redeemed  by  Chattanooga.  But  the 
attention  of  the  country  was  necessarily  focussed 
chiefly  on  the  limited  territory  that  lay  between 
Washington  and  Richmond.  In  that  region 
nothing  permanent  or  decisive  had  been  accom- 
plished in  the  period  of  more  than  two  years,  and 
it  is  small  wonder  that  the  President  became 
haggard  in  appearance. 

He  did  what  he  could.  He  had  thus  far  held 
the  divided  North,  and  prevented  a  European 
alliance  with  the  Confederates.  He  now  used, 
one  by  one,  the  most  extreme  measures.  He 
suspended  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  declared  or 
authorized  martial  law,  authorized  the  conflsca- 


330  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tion  of  the  property  of  those  who  were  providmg 
aid  and  comfort  for  the  enemy,  called  for  troops 
by  conscription  when  volunteers  ceased,  and 
enlisted  negro  troops.  Any  person  who  studies 
the  character  of  Abraham  Lincoln  will  realize 
that  these  measures,  or  most  of  them,  came 
from  him  with  great  reluctance.  He  was  not 
a  man  who  would  readily  or  lightly  take  up  such 
means.  They  meant  that  the  country  was  pressed, 
hard  pressed.  They  were  extreme  measures,  not 
congenial  to  his  accustomed  lines  of  thought. 
They  were  as  necessities. 

But  what  Lincoln  looked  for,  longed  for,  was 
the  man  who  could  use  skilfully  and  successfully, 
the  great  Army  of  the  Potomac.  He  had  not 
yet  been  discovered. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

NEW  HOPES. 

The  outlook  from  Washington  during  the  first 
half  of  the  year  1863  was  as  discouraging  as 
could  well  be  borne.  There  had  been  no  real 
advance  since  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Young 
men,  loyal  and  enthusiastic,  had  gone  into  the 
army  by  hundreds  of  thousands.  Large  numbers 
of  these,  the  flower  of  the  northern  youth,  had 
been  slain  or  wounded,  and  far  larger  numbers 
had  died  of  exposure  in  the  swamps  of  Virginia. 
There  was  still  no  progress.  Washington  had 
been  defended,  but  there  was  hardly  a  day  when 
the  Confederates  were  not  within  menacing 
distance  of  the  capital. 

After  the  bloody  disaster  at  Chancellorsville 
matters  grew  even  worse.  Lee  first  defeated 
Hooker  in  battle  and  then  he  out-maneuvered 
him.  He  cleverly  eluded  him,  and  before  Hooker 
was  aware  of  what  was  going  on,  he  was  on  his 
way,  with  eighty  thousand  men,  towards  Phil- 
adelphia and  had  nearly  a  week's  start  of  the 

331 


332  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Union  army.  The  Confederates  had  always 
thought  that  if  they  could  carry  the  war  into  the 
northern  states  they  would  fight  to  better  ad- 
vantage. Jeff  Davis  had  threatened  the  torch, 
but  it  is  not  likely  that  such  subordinates  as 
General  Lee  shared  his  destructive  and  barbarous 
ambition.  Still,  Lee  had  a  magnificent  army, 
and  its  presence  in  Pennsylvania  was  fitted  to 
inspire  terror.  It  was  also  fitted  to  rouse  the 
martial  spirit  of  the  northern  soldiers,  as  after- 
wards appeared. 

As  soon  as  the  situation  was  known,  Hooker 
started  in  hot  pursuit.  After  he  had  crossed  the 
Potomac  going  north,  he  made  certain  requests 
of  the  War  Department  which  were  refused,  and 
he,  angry  at  the  refusal,  promptly  sent  in  his 
resignation.  Whether  his  requests  were  reason- 
able is  one  question  ;  whether  it  was  patriotic  in 
him  to  resign  on  the  eve  of  what  was  certain  to 
be  a  great  and  decisive  battle  is  another  question. 
But  his  resignation  was  accepted  and  Meade  was 
appointed  to  the  command.  He  accepted  the 
responsibility  with  a  modest  and  soldierly  spirit 
and  quit  himself  like  a  man.  It  is  one  of  the 
rare  cases  in  all  history  in  which  an  army  has  on 
the  eve  of  battle  made  a  change  of  generals  without 
disaster.     That  is  surely  highly  to  the  credit  of 


NEW  HOPES.  333 

General  Meade.  Lee's  objective  point  was  not 
known.  He  might  capture  Harrisburg  or  Phil- 
adelphia, or  both.  He  would  probably  desire  to 
cut  off  all  communication  with  Washington. 
The  only  thing  to  do  was  to  overtake  him  and 
force  a  battle.  He  himself  realized  this  and  was 
fully  decided  not  to  give  battle  but  fight  only  on 
the  defensive.  Curiously  enough,  Meade  also  de- 
cided not  to  attack,  but  to  fight  on  the  defensive. 
Nevertheless,  "  the  best  laid  schemes  o'  mice  a?i' 
men  gang  aft  agley." 

The  result  was  Gettysburg,  and  the  battle  was 
not  fought  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  either 
commander.  Uncontrollable  events  forced  the 
battle  then  and  there.  This  battle-field  was  some 
distance  to  the  north,  that  is  to  say,  in  advance 
of  Pipe  Creek,  the  location  selected  by  Meade. 
But  a  conflict  between  a  considerable  force  on 
each  side  opened  the  famous  battle  on  July  1st. 
A  retreat,  or  withdrawal,  to  Pipe  Creek  would 
have  been  disastrous.  The  first  clash  was  between 
Heth's  division  on  the  Confederate  side,  and 
Buford  and  Reynolds  on  the  Union  side.  Rarely 
have  soldiers  been  more  eager  for  the  fray  than 
were  those  of  the  Union  army  at  this  time,  espe- 
cially the  sons  of  Pennsylvania.  ' '  Up  and  at  'em  " 
was  the  universal  feeling.     It  was  hardly  possible 


334  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

to  hold  them  back.  The  generals  felt  that  it  was 
not  wise  to  hold  them  back.  Thus,  as  one  division 
after  another,  on  both  sides,  came  up  to  the  help 
of  their  comrades,  Gettysburg  was  accepted  as 
the  battle-field.  It  was  selected  by  neither  com- 
mander, it  was  thrust  upon  them  by  the  fortunes 
of  war,  it  was  selected  by  the  God  of  battles. 

Almost  the  first  victim  on  the  Union  side  was 
that  talented  and  brave  soldier,  the  general  in 
command,  Reynolds.  His  place  was  later  in  the 
day, — that  is,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
— filled,  and  well  filled,  by  General  Hancock. 

The  scope  of  this  volume  does  not  permit  the 
description  of  this  great  battle,  and  only  some  of 
the  results  may  be  given.  The  evening  of  July 
1st  closed  in  with  the  Union  army  holding  out, 
but  with  the  advantages,  such  as  the}'  were,  on 
the  Confederate  side.  The  second  day  the  fight 
was  fiercely  renewed  and  closed  with  no  special 
advantage  on  either  side.  On  the  third  day  it 
was  still  undecided  until  in  the  afternoon  when 
the  climax  came  in  Pickett's  famous  charge. 
This  was  the  very  flower  of  the  Confederate  army, 
and  the  hazard  of  the  charge  was  taken  by  Gen- 
eral Lee  against  the  earnest  advice  of  Longstreet. 
They  were  repulsed  and  routed,  and  that  decided 
the  battle.     Lee's  army  was  turned  back,  the  at- 


NEW  HOPES.  335 

tempted  invasion  was  a  failure,  and  it  became 
manifest  that  even  Lee  could  not  fight  to  advan- 
tage on  northern  soil. 

Gettysburg  was  the  greatest  battle  ever  fought 
on  the  western  hemisphere,  and  it  will  easily  rank 
as  one  of  the  great  battles  of  either  hemisphere. 
The  number  of  troops  was  about  80,000  on  each 
side.  In  the  beginning  the  Confederates  decidedly 
outnumbered  the  Federals,  because  the  latter 
were  more  scattered  and  it  took  time  to  bring 
them  up.  In  the  latter  part,  the  numbers  were 
more  nearly  evenly  divided,  though  nearly  one- 
fourth  of  Meade's  men  were  not  in  the  battle  at 
any  time. 

The  total  loss  of  killed,  wounded,  and  missing, 
was  on  the  Confederate  side  over  31,000  ;  on  the 
Union  side,  about  23,000.  The  Confederates  lost 
seventeen  generals,  and  the  Federals  twenty. 
When  we  consider  this  loss  of  generals,  bearing 
in  mind  that  on  the  Union  side  they  were  mostly 
those  on  whom  Meade  would  naturally  lean,  it  is 
hardly  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  so  far  lost  his 
nerve  as  to  be  unwilling  to  pursue  the  retreating 
enemy  or  hazard  another  battle.  He  could  not  re- 
alize that  the  enemy  had  suffered  much  more  than 
he  had,  and  that,  despite  his  losses,  he  was  in  a  con- 
dition to  destroy  that  army.     Not  all  that  Lincoln 


336  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

could  say  availed  to  persuade  him  to  renew  the 
attack  upon  the  retreating  foe.  When  Lee 
reached  the  Potomac  he  found  the  river  so  swollen 
as  to  be  impassable.  He  could  only  wait  for  the 
waters  to  subside  or  for  time  to  improvise  a  pon- 
toon bridge. 

When,  after  waiting  for  ten  days,  Meade  was 
aroused  to  make  the  attack,  he  was  just  one  day 
too  late.  Lee  had  got  his  army  safely  into 
Virginia,  and  the  war  was  not  over.  Lincoln 
could  only  say,  "  Providence  has  twice  [the  other 
reference  is  to  Antietam]  delivered  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia  into  our  hands,  and  with  such 
opportunities  lost  we  ought  scarcely  to  hope  for 
a  third  chance." 

Lincoln  wrote  a  letter  to  Meade.  He  also 
wrote  him  a  second  letter — or  was  it  the  first  ? — 
which  he  did  not  send.  We  quote  from  this  be- 
cause it  really  expressed  the  President's  mind,  and 
because  the  fact  that  he  did  not  send  it  only 
shows  how  reluctant  he  was  to  wound  another's 
feelings  even  when  deserved. 

"  Again,  my  dear  general,  I  do  not  believe  3'^ou 
appreciate  the  magnitude  of  the  misfortune  in- 
volved in  Lee's  escape.  He  was  within  your  easy 
grasp,  and  to  have  closed  upon  him  would,  in 
connection  with  our  other  late  successes,  have 


NEW  HOPES.  337 

ended  the  war.  As  it  is,  the  war  will  be  prolonged 
indefinitely.  If  you  could  not  safely  attack  Lee 
last  Monday,  how  can  you  possibly  do  so  south  of 
the  river,  when  you  can  take  with  you  very  few 
more  than  two-thirds  of  the  force  you  then  had  in 
hand  ?  It  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect,  and 
I  do  not  expect,  that  you  can  now  effect  much. 
Your  golden  opportunity  is  gone,  and  I  am  dis- 
tressed immeasurably  because  of  it.  I  beg  you 
will  not  consider  this  a  prosecution  or  persecution 
of  yourself.  As  you  had  learned  that  I  was  dis- 
satisfied, I  thought  it  best  to  kindly  tell  you  why." 
While  not  overlooking  Meade's  omission,  as 
this  letter  shows,  he  appreciated  the  full  value  of 
the  victory  that  checked  Lee's  advance,  and 
thanked  the  general  heartily  for  that. 

On  the  same  afternoon  of  July  3d,  almost  at 
the  very  minute  that  Pickett  was  making  his 
charge,  there  was  in  progress,  a  thousand  miles 
to  the  west,  an  event  of  almost  equal  importance. 
Just  outside  the  fortifications  of  Vicksburg, 
under  an  oak  tree,  General  Grant  had  met  the 
Confederate  General,  Pemberton,  to  negotiate 
terms  of  surrender.  The  siege  of  Vicksburg  was 
a  great  triumph,  and  its  capitulation  was  of 
scarcely   less    importance  than    the    victory    at 

22 


338  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Gettysburg.  Vicksburg  commanded  the  Missis- 
sippi River  and  was  supposed  to  be  impregnable. 
Surely  few  cities  were  situated  more  favorably 
to  resist  either  attack  or  siege.  But  Admiral 
Porter  got  his  gunboats  below  the  city,  running 
the  batteries  in  the  night,  and  Grant's  investment 
was  complete.  The  Confederate  cause  was  hope- 
less, their  men  nearly  starved. 

Grant's  plan  was  to  make  a  final  attack  (if 
necessary)  on  the  6th  or  Tth  day  of  July  ;  but 
some  time  previous  to  this  he  had  predicted  that 
the  garrison  would  surrender  on  the  fourth. 
General  Pemberton  tried  his  utmost  to  avoid  this 
very  thing.  When  it  became  apparent  that  he 
could  not  hold  out  much  longer,  he  opened 
negotiations  on  the  morning  of  July  3d  for  the 
specific  purpose  of  forestalling  the  possibility  of 
surrender  on  the  next  day.  Independence  Day. 
In  his  report  to  the  Confederate  government 
he  claims  to  have  chosen  the  4th  of  July 
for  surrender,  because  he  thought  that  he  could 
secure  better  terms  on  that  day.  But  his  pom- 
pous word  has  little  weight,  and  all  the  evidence 
points  the  other  way.  When  on  the  morning  of 
the  3d  of  July  he  opened  negotiations,  he  could 
not  possibly  have  foreseen  that  it  would  take 
twenty-four  hours  to  arrange  the  terms. 


NEW  HOPES.  339 

It  was,  then,  on  the  4th  of  July  that  Grant 
occupied  Vicksburg.  The  account  by  Nicolay 
and  Hay  ends  with  the  following  beautiful 
reflection  :  "It  is  not  the  least  of  the  glories 
gained  by  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee  in  this  won- 
derful campaign  that  not  a  single  cheer  went  up 
from  the  Union  ranks,  not  a  single  word  [was 
spoken]  that  could  offend  their  beaten  foes." 

The  loss  to  the  Union  army  in  killed,  wounded, 
and  missing,  was  about  9,000.  The  Confederate 
loss  was  nearly  50,000.  To  be  sure  many  of  the 
paroled  were  compelled  to  reenlist  according  to 
the  policy  of  the  Confederate  government. 
But  even  so  their  parole  was  a  good  thing  for  the 
cause  of  the  Union.  They  were  so  thoroughly 
disaffected  that  their  release  did,  for  the  time, 
more  harm  than  good  to  the  southern  cause. 
Then  it  left  Grant's  army  free. 

The  sequel  to  this  victory  came  ten  months 
later  in  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea :  not  less 
thrilling  in  its  conception  and  dramatic  in  its 
execution  than  any  battle  or  siege.  Much  fight- 
ing, skilful  generalship,  long  patience  were  re- 
quired before  this  crowning  act  could  be  done, 
but  it  came  in  due  time  and  was  one  of  the  finish- 
ing blows  to  the  Confederacy,  and  it  came  as  a 
logical  result  of  the  colossal  victory  at  Vicksburg. 


340  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

There  were  some  eddies  and  counter  currents 
to  the  main  drift  of  affairs.  About  the  time  that 
Lee  and  his  beaten  army  were  making  good  their 
escape,  terrific  riots  broke  out  in  New  York  City 
in  resisting  the  draft.  As  is  usual  in  mob  rule 
the  very  worst  elements  of  human  or  devilish 
depravity  came  to  the  top  and  were  most  in 
evidence.  For  several  days  there  was  indeed  a 
reign  of  terror.  The  fury  of  the  mob  was  directed 
particularly  against  the  negroes.  They  were 
murdered.  Their  orphan  asylum  was  burnt. 
But  the  government  quickly  suppressed  the  riot 
with  a  firm  hand.  The  feeling  was  general 
throughout  the  country  that  we  were  now  on  the 
way  to  a  successful  issue  of  the  war.  The  end 
was  almost  in  sight.  Gettysburg  and  Vicksburg, 
July  3  and  4,  1863,  had  inspired  new  hopes  never 
to  be  quenched. 

On  the  15th  day  of  July  the  President  issued  a 
thanksgiving  proclamation,  designating  August 
6th  as  the  day.  Later  in  the  year  he  issued  an- 
other thanksgiving  proclamation,  designating  the 
last  Thursday  in  November.  Previous  to  that 
time,  certain  states,  and  not  a  few  individuals, 
were  in  the  habit  of  observing  a  thanksgiving 
day  in  November.  Indeed  the  custom,  in  a 
desultory  way,  dates  back  to  Plymouth  Colony. 


NEW  HOPES.  341 

But  these  irregular  and  uncertain  observances 
never  took  on  the  semblance  of  a  national  holi- 
day. That  dates  from  the  proclamation  issued 
October  3d,  1863.  From  that  day  to  this,  every 
Presideat  has  every  year  followed  that  example. 

Lincoln  was  invited  to  attend  a  public  meeting 
appointed  for  August  26th  at  his  own  city  of 
Springfield,  the  object  of  which  was  to  concert 
measures  for  the  maintenance  of  the  Union. 
The  pressure  of  public  duties  did  not  permit  him 
to  leave  Washington,  but  he  wrote  a  characteris- 
tic letter,  a  part  of  which  refers  to  some  of  the 
events  touched  on  in  this  chapter.  A  few  sen- 
tences of  this  letter  are  here  given  : 

"  The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  unvexed 
to  the  sea.  Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it ; 
nor  yet  wholly  to  them.  Three  hundred  miles 
up  they  met  New  England,  Empire,  Keystone, 
and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way  right  and  left. 
The  sunny  South,  too,  in  more  colors  than  one, 
also  lent  a  helping  hand.  On  the  spot,  their  part 
of  the  history  was  jotted  down  in  black  and  white. 
The  job  was  a  great  national  one,  and  let  none  be 
slighted  who  bore  an  honorable  part  in  it.  And 
while  those  who  have  cleared  the  great  river 
may  well  be  proud,  even  that  is  not  all.  It  is 
hard  to  say  that  anything  has  been  more  bravely 


342  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

and  well  done  than  at  Antietam,  Murfreesboro, 
Gettysburg,  and  on  many  fields  of  less  note.  Nor 
must  Uncle  Sam's  web-feet  be  forgotten.  At  all 
the  watery  margins  they  have  been  present,  not 
only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad  bay,  and  the  rapid 
river,  but  also  up  the  narrow,  muddy  bayou,  and 
wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp,  they 
have  been  and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all. 
For  the  great  republic — for  the  principle  it  lives 
by  and  keeps  alive — for  man's  vast  future — 
thanks  to  all. 

"  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I 
hope  it  will  come  soon  and  come  to  stay  ;  and  so 
come  as  to  be  worth  the  keeping  in  all  future 
time.  It  will  then  have  been  proved  that  among 
freemen  there  can  be  no  successful  appeal  from 
the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they  who  take 
such  appeal  are  sure  to  lose  their  case  and  pay  the 
cost.  And  there  will  be  some  black  men  who 
can  remember  that  with  silent  tongue  and 
clenched  teeth  and  steady  eye  and  well-poised 
bayonet  they  have  helped  mankind  on  to  this 
great  consummation  ;  while  I  fear  there  will  be 
some  white  ones  unable  to  forget  that  with 
malignant  heart  and  deceitful  speech  they  have 
striven  to  hinder  it. " 

It  is  plain  that  after  July  4,  1863,  the  final  re- 


NEW  HOPES.  343 

suit  was  no  longer  doubtful.  So  Lincoln  felt  it. 
There  were  indeed  some  who  continued  to  cry- 
that  the  war  was  a  failure,  but  in  such  cases  the 
wish  was  only  father  to  the  thought. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

LINCOLN  AND  GRANT. 

The  great  army  of  R.  E.  Lee  operated,  through 
the  whole  period  of  the  four  years  of  the  war, 
almost  within  sight  of  Washington  City.  It  is 
not  in  the  least  strange  that  eastern  men,  many 
of  whom  had  hardly  crossed  the  Alleghanies, 
should  think  that  the  operations  in  Virginia  were 
about  all  the  war  there  was,  and  that  the  fighting 
in  the  West  was  of  subordinate  importance.  Lin- 
coln could  not  fall  into  this  error.  Not  only  had 
he  a  singularly  broad  vision,  but  he  was  himself 
a  western  man.  He  fully  appreciated  the  magni- 
tude of  the  operations  in  that  vast  territory  lying 
between  the  Alleghanies  on  the  east  and  the 
western  boundary  of  Missouri  on  the  west.  He 
also  clearly  understood  the  importance  of  keep- 
ing open  the  Mississippi  River  throughout  its 
entire  length. 

At  the  very  time  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was 

apparently  doing  nothing, — winning  no  victories, 

destroying   no    armies,    making    no   permanent 

advances, — there  was  a  man   in  the  West  who 
344 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  345 

was  building  up  for  himself  a  remarkable  reputa- 
tion. He  was  all  the  while  winning  victories, 
destroying  armies,  making  advances.  He  was 
always  active,  he  was  always  successful.  The 
instant  one  thing  was  accomplished  he  turned  his 
energies  to  a  new  task.     This  was  Grant. 

He  was  a  graduate  of  West  Point,  had  seen 
service  in  the  Mexican  War,  and  ultimately  rose 
to  the  grade  of  captain.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
war  he  was  in  business  with  his  father  in  Galena, 
Illinois.  When  the  President  called  for  the  75,- 
000  men.  Grant  proceeded  at  once  to  make  him- 
self useful  by  drilling  volunteer  troops.  He  was 
by  the  governor  of  Illinois  commissioned  as 
colonel,  and  was  soon  promoted.  His  first  serv- 
ice was  in  Missouri,  When  stationed  at  Cairo 
he  seized  Paducah  on  his  own  responsibility. 
This  stroke  possibly  saved  Kentucky  for  the 
Union,  for  the  legislature,  which  had  up  to  that 
time  been  wavering,  declared  at  once  in  favor 
of  the  Union. 

He  was  then  ordered  to  break  up  a  Confederate 
force  at  Belmont,  a  few  miles  below  Cairo.  He 
started  at  once  on  his  expedition,  and  though 
the  enemy  was  largely  reinforced  before  his  ar- 
rival, he  was  entirely  successful  and  returned 
with  victory,  not  excuses. 


34:6  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Then  came  Forts  Henry  and  Donaldson,  The 
latter  attracted  unusual  attention  because  it  was 
the  most  important  Union  victory  up  to  that  time, 
and  because  of  his  epigrammatic  reply  to  the 
offer  of  surrender.  When  asked  what  terms  he 
would  allow,  his  reply  was,  "  Unconditional  sur- 
render." As  these  initials  happened  to  fit  the 
initials  of  his  name,  he  was  for  a  long  time  called 
"  Unconditional  Surrender  Grant."  So  he  passed 
promptly  from  one  task  to  another,  from  one 
victory  to  another.  And  Lincoln  kept  watch  of 
him.  He  began  to  think  that  Grant  was  the 
man  for  the  army. 

It  has  been  said  that  Lincoln,  while  he  gave 
general  directions  to  his  soldiers,  and  freely 
offered  suggestions,  left  them  to  work  out  the 
military  details  in  their  own  way.  This  is  so  well 
illustrated  in  his  letter  to  Grant  that,  for  this 
reason,  as  well  as  for  the  intrinsic  interest  of  the 
letter,  it  is  here  given  in  full  : 

"  My  DEAR  General  : — I  do  not  remember  that 
you  and  I  ever  met  personally.  I  write  this 
now  as  a  grateful  acknowledgment  for  the 
almost  inestimable  service  you  have  done  the 
country.  I  wish  to  say  a  word  further.  When 
you  first  reached  the  vicinity  of  Vicksburg,   I 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  347 

thought  you  should  do  what  you  finally  did — 
march  the  troops  across  the  neck,  run  the  batteries 
with  the  transports,  and  thus  go  below  ;  and  I 
never  had  any  faith,  except  a  general  hope  that 
you  knew  better  than  I,  that  the  Yazoo  Pass 
expedition  and  the  like  could  succeed.  When 
you  got  below  and  took  Port  Gibson,  Grand  Gulf, 
and  vicinity,  I  thought  you  should  go  down  the 
river  and  join  General  Banks  ;  and  when  you 
turned  northward,  east  of  the  Big  Black,  I  thought 
it  was  a  mistake.  I  now  wish  to  make  the 
personal  acknowledgment  that  you  were  right 
and  I  was  wrong." 

There  was  surely  no  call  for  this  confession,  no 
reason  for  the  letter,  except  the  bigness  of  the 
heart  of  the  writer.  Like  the  letter  to  Hooker, 
it  was  just  such  a  letter  as  a  father  might  write 
a  son.  It  was  the  production  of  a  high  grade  of 
manliness. 

Prominence  always  brings  envy,  fault-finding, 
hostility.  From  this  Grant  did  not  escape.  The 
more  brilliant  and  uniform  his  successes,  the 
more  clamorous  a  certain  class  of  people  became. 
The  more  strictly  he  attended  to  his  soldierly 
duties,  the  more  busily  certain  people  tried  to 
interfere, — to  tell  him  how  to  do,   or  how   not 


348  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

to  do.  In  their  self-appointed  censorship  they 
even  besieged  the  President  and  made  life  a 
burden  to  him.  With  wit  and  unfailing  good 
nature,  he  turned  their  criticisms.  When  they 
argued  that  Grant  could  not  possibly  be  a  good 
soldier,  he  replied,    "I like  him  ;  he  fights." 

When  they  charged  him  with  drunkenness, 
Lincoln  jocularly  proposed  that  they  ascertain 
the  brand  of  the  whisky  he  drank  and  buy  up  a 
large  amount  of  the  same  sort  to  send  to  his 
other  generals,  so  that  they  might  win  victories 
like  him  ! 

Grant's  important  victories  in  the  West  came  in 
rapid  and  brilliant  succession.  Forts  Henry  and 
Donaldson  were  captured  in  February,  1862.  The 
battle  of  Shiloh,  or  Pittsburg  Landing,  was  fought 
in  April  of  the  same  year.  Vicksburg  surrendered 
July  4th,  1863.  And  the  battle  of  Chattanooga 
took  place  in  November  of  that  year. 

Grant  was  always  sparing  of  words  and  his 
reports  were  puzzling  to  the  administration.  He 
always  reported,  and  that  promptly.  But  his 
reports  were  of  the  briefest  description  and  in 
such  marked  contrast  to  those  of  all  other  officers 
known  to  the  government,  that  they  were  a 
mystery  to  those  familiar  with  certain  others. 
Lincoln  said  that  Grant  could  do  anything  except 


The  first  tiieeting  of  Lincoln  and  Grant. — Page  349.        Life  of  Lincoln. 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  349 

write  a  report.  He  concluded  to  send  a  trusty 
messenger  to  see  what  manner  of  man  this 
victorious  general  was.  Charles  A.  Dana,  As- 
sistant-Secretary of  War,  was  chosen  for  this 
purpose.  His  investigation  was  satisfactory,  fully 
so.  Lincoln's  confidence  in,  and  hopes  for,  this 
rising  warrior  were  fully  justified. 

It  was  after  the  capitulation  of  Vicksburg  that 
Grant  grasped  the  fact  that  he  was  the  man 
destined  to  end  the  war.  After  the  battle  of 
Chattanooga  public  opinion  generally  pointed  to 
him  as  the  general  who  was  to  lead  our  armies 
to  ultimate  victory.  In  February,  1864,  congress 
passed  an  act  creating  the  office  of  Lieutenant 
General.  The  President  approved  that  act  on 
Washington's  birthday,  and  nominated  Grant 
for  that  office.  The  senate  confirmed  this  nomina- 
tion on  March  2d,  and  Grant  was  ordered  to 
report  at  Washington. 

With  his  usual  promptness  he  started  at  once 
for  Washington,  arriving  there  the  8th  of  March. 
The  laconic  conversation  which  took  place  be- 
tween the  President  and  the  general  has  been  re- 
ported about  as  follows  : — 

"  What  do  you  want  me  to  do  ? " 

"  To  take  Richmond.     Can  you  do  it  ? " 

"  Yes,  if  you  furnish  me  troops  enough." 


360  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

That  evening  there  was  a  levee  at  the  White 
House  which  he  attended.  The  crowd  were  very 
eager  to  see  him,  and  he  was  persuaded  to  mount 
a  sofa,  which  he  did  blushing,  so  that  they  might 
have  a  glimpse  of  him,  but  he  could  not  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  make  a  speech.  On  parting  that  eve- 
ning with  the  President,  he  said,  "This  is  the 
warmest  campaign  I  have  witnessed  during  the 
war." 

That  evening  Lincoln  informed  him  that  he 
would  on  the  next  day  formally  present  his  com- 
mission with  a  brief  speech — four  sentences  in  all. 
He  suggested  that  Grant  reply  in  a  speech  suitable 
to  be  given  out  to  the  country  in  the  hope  of  re- 
viving confidence  and  courage.  The  formality  of 
the  presentation  occurred  the  next  day,  but  the 
general  disappointed  the  President  as  to  the 
speech.  He  accepted  the  commission  with  remarks 
of  soldierlike  brevity. 

It  is  fitting  here  to  say  of  General  Meade  that 
as  he  had  accepted  his  promotion  to  the  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  with  dignified  hu- 
mility, so  he  accepted  his  being  superseded  with 
loyal  obedience.  In  both  cases  he  was  a  model  of 
a  patriot  and  a  soldier. 

As  soon  as  he  received  his  commission  Grant 
visited  his  future  army — the  Army  of  the  Potomac. 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  351 

Upon  his  return  Mrs.  Lincoln  planned  to  give  a 
dinner  in  his  honor.  But  this  was  not  to  his 
taste.  He  said,  "  Mrs.  Lincoln  must  excuse  me. 
I  must  be  in  Tennessee  at  a  given  time." 

"  But,"  replied  the  President,  ''  we  can't  excuse 
you.  Mrs.  Lincoln's  dinner  without  you  would 
be  Hamlet  with  Hamlet  left  out." 

"I  appreciate  the  honor  Mrs.  Lincoln  would  do 
me,"  he  said,  ''but  time  is  very  important  now — 
and  really — Mr.  Lincoln — I  have  had  enough  of 
this  show  business." 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  disappointed  in  losing  the  guest 
for  dinner,  but  he  was  delighted  with  the  spirit 
of  his  new  general. 

Grant  made  his  trip  to  the  West.  How  he  ap- 
preciated the  value  of  time  is  shown  by  the  fact 
that  he  had  his  final  conference  with  his  successor. 
General  Sherman,  who  was  also  his  warm  friend, 
on  the  railway  train  en  route  to  Cincinnati.  He 
had  asked  Sherman  to  accompany  him  so  far  for 
the  purpose  of  saving  time. 

On  March  ITth  General  Grant  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  armies  of  the  United  States  with 
headquarters  in  the  field.  He  was  evidently  in 
earnest.  As  Lincoln  had  cordially  offered  help 
and  encouragement  to  all  the  other  generals,  so 
he  did  to  Grant.     The    difference   between  one 


352  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

general  and  another  was  not  in  Lincoln's  offer  of 
help,  oi-  refusal  to  give  it,  but  there  was  a  differ- 
ence in  the  way  in  which  his  offers  were  received, 
Tiie  following  correspondence  tells  the  story  of 
the  way  he  held  himself  alert  to  render  assist- 
ance : 

"ExECunvE  Mansion, 
"  Washington,  April  30,  1864. 

"  Lieut. -General  Grant  : 

"Not  expecting  to  see  you  again  before  the 
spring  campaign  opens,  I  wish  to  express  in  this 
way  my  entire  satisfaction  with  what  you  have 
done  up  to  this  time,  so  far  as  I  understand  it.  The 
particulars  of  your  plan  I  neither  know  nor  seek 
to  know.  You  are  vigilant  and  self-reliant ;  and, 
pleased  with  this,  I  wish  not  to  obtrude  any  con- 
straints or  restraints  upon  you.  While  I  am  very 
anxious  that  any  great  disaster  or  capture  of  our 
men  in  great  numbers  shall  be  avoided,  I  know 
these  points  will  be  less  likely  to  escape  your  at- 
tention than  they  would  be  mine.  If  there  is  any- 
thing wanting  which  is  within  my  power  to  give, 
do  not  fail  to  let  me  know  it.  And  now,  with  a 
brave  army  and  a  just  cause,  may  God  sustain 

you. 

**  Yours  very  truly, 

"  A.  Lincoln." 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  353 

**  Headquarteks  Armies  of  the  United  States, 

"  Culpepper  Court-House,  May  1,  1864. 

"  The  President  : 

"  Your  very  kind  letter  of  yesterday  is  just  re- 
ceived. The  confidence  you  express  for  the  future 
and  satisfaction  with  the  past  in  my  military  ad- 
ministration is  acknowledged  with  pride.  It  will 
be  my  earnest  endeavor  that  you  and  the  country 
shall  not  be  disappointed.  From  my  first  entrance 
into  the  volunteer  service  of  the  country  to  the 
present  day,  I  have  never  had  cause  of  complaint 
— have  never  expressed  or  implied  a  complaint 
against  the  Administration,  or  the  Secretary  of 
War,  for  throwing  any  embarrassment  in  the  way 
of  my  vigorously  prosecuting  what  appeared  to 
me  my  duty.  Indeed  since  the  promotion  which 
placed  me  in  command  of  all  the  armies,  and  in 
view  of  the  great  responsibility  and  importance 
of  success,  I  have  been  astonished  at  the  readi- 
ness with  which  everything  asked  for  has  been 
yielded,  without  even  an  explanation  being  asked. 
Should  my  success  be  less  than  I  desire  and  ex- 
pect, the  least  I  can  say  is,  the  fault  is  not  with 
you. 

"  Very  truly,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  U.  S.  Grant,  Lieut- General. ^^ 
23 


354  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

There  is  just  here  a  subject  on  which  there  is  a 
curious  difference  of  opinion  between  Grant  and 
John  Hay.  Grant  says  that,  on  his  last  visit  to 
Washington  before  taking  the  field,  the  President 
had  become  acquainted  with  the  fact  that  a  gen- 
eral movement  had  been  ordered  all  along  the 
line,  and  seemed  (italics  ours)  to  think  it  a  new 
feature  in  war.  He  explained  this  plan  to  the 
President  who  was  greatly  interested  and  said, 
"  Oh,  yes  !  I  see  that.  As  we  say  out  West,  if  a 
man  can't  skin,  he  must  hold  a  leg  while  some- 
body else  does." 

There  is,  at  the  same  time,  documentary  evi- 
dence that  Lincoln  had  been  continually  urging 
this  precise  plan  on  all  his  generals.     Mr.  Hay 
therefore    distrusts    the    accuracy    of    General 
Grant's  memory.     To  the  present  writer,  there  is 
no  mystery  in  the  matter.     The  full  truth  is  large 
enough  to  include  the  statement  of  Grant  as  well 
as  that  of  Nicolay  and  Hay.     Mr.  Hay  is  certainly 
right  in  claiming  that    Lincoln   from  the  first 
desired  such  a  concerted  movement  all  along  the 
line  ;  for,  even  though  not  all  could  fight  at  the 
same  time,  those  not  fighting  could  help  other- 
wise.    This  was  the  force  of  the  western  proverb, 
''Those  not  skinning  can  hold  a  leg,"  which  he 
quoted  to  all  his  generals  from  Buell  to  Grant. 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  355 

When  therefore  Grant  explained  precisely  this 
plan  to  Lincoln,  the  latter  refrained  from  the 
natural  utterance, — "  That  is  exactly  what  I  have 
been  trying  to  get  our  generals  to  do  all  these 
years."  In  courtesy  to  Grant  he  did  not  claim  to 
have  originated  the  plan,  but  simply  preserved  a 
polite  silence.  He  followed  eagerly  as  the  general 
reiterated  his  own  ideas,  and  the  exclamation, 
"Oh,  yes!  I  see  that,"  would  mean  more  to 
Lincoln  than  Grant  could  possibly  have  guessed. 
He  did  see  it,  he  had  seen  it  a  long  time. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  Lincoln  had,  for  the 
sake  of  comprehending  the  significance  of  one 
word,  mastered  Euclid  after  he  became  a  lawyer. 
There  is  here  another  evidence  of  the  same 
thoroughness  and  force  of  will.  During  the 
months  when  the  Union  armies  were  accomplish- 
ing nothing,  he  procured  the  necessary  books  and 
set  himself,  in  the  midst  of  all  his  administrative 
cares,  to  the  task  of  learning  the  science  of  war. 
That  he  achieved  more  than  ordinary  success  will 
now  surprise  no  one  who  is  familiar  with  his 
character.  His  military  sagacity  is  attested  by 
so  high  an  authority  as  General  Sherman.  Other 
generals  have  expressed  their  surprise  and  grati- 
fication at  his  knowledge  and  penetration  in  mili- 
tary affairs.     Br.t  never  at  any  time  did  he  lord 


356  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

it  over  his  generals.  He  did  make  suggestions. 
He  did  ask  McClellan  why  one  plan  was  better 
than  another.  He  did  ask  some  awkward 
questions  of  Meade.  But  it  was  his  uniform 
policy  to  give  his  generals  all  possible  help,  look- 
ing only  for  results,  and  leaving  details  unre- 
servedly in  their  hands.  This  is  the  testimony  of 
McClellan  and  Grant,  and  the  testimony  of  the 
two  generals,  so  widely  different  in  character 
and  method,  should  be  and  is  conclusive.  Grant 
says  that  Lincoln  expressly  assured  him  that  he 
preferred  not  to  know  his  purposes, — he  desired 
only  to  learn  what  means  he  needed  to  carry  them 
out,  and  promised  to  furnish  these  to  the  full 
extent  of  his  power. 

Side  by  side  these  two  men  labored,  each  in  his 
own  department,  until  the  war  was  ended  and 
their  work  was  done.  Though  so  different,  they 
were  actuated  by  the  same  spirit.  Not  even  the 
southern  generals  themselves  had  deeper  sym- 
pathy with,  or  greater  tenderness  for,  the  mass 
of  the  Confederate  soldiers.  It  was  the  same 
magnanimity  in  Lincoln  and  Grant  that  sent  the 
conquered  army,  after  their  final  defeat,  back  to 
the  industries  of  peace  that  they  might  be  able  to 
provide  against  their  sore  needs. 

When  that  madman  assassinated  the  President, 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  357 

the  conspiracy  included  also  the  murder  of  the 
general.  This  failed  onl}'-  by  reason  of  Grant's 
unexpected  absence  from  Washington  City  on  the 
night  of  the  crime. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS. 

The  duties  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 
include  the  writing  of  state  papers  that  are  con- 
siderable both  in  number  and  in  volume.  Many 
of  the  Presidents,  from  Washington  down,  have 
been  men  of  great  ability,  and  almost  all  of  them 
have  had  sufficient  academic  training  or  intellec- 
tual environments  in  their  early  years.  These 
state  papers  have  frequently  been  such  as  to  com- 
pare favorably  with  those  of  the  ablest  statesmen 
of  Europe.  With  every  new  election  of  President 
the  people  wait  in  expectancy  for  the  inaugural 
address  and  the  messages  to  congress.  These 
are  naturally  measured  by  the  standard  of  what 
has  preceded — not  of  all  that  has  preceded,  for  the 
inferior  ones  are  forgotten,  but  of  the  best.  This 
is  no  light  test  for  any  man. 

Lincoln's  schooling  was  so  slight  as  to  be  almost 
nil.  He  did  not  grow  up  in  a  literary  atmosphere. 
But  in  the  matter  of  his  official  utterances  he 
must  be  compared  with  the  ablest  geniuses  and 

most  cultured  scholars  that  have  preceded  him, 
358 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  359 

and  not  merely  with  his  early  associates.  He  is 
to  be  measured  with  Washington,  the  Adamses, 
Jefferson,  and  not  with  the  denizens  of  Gentry- 
ville  or  New  Salem. 

Perhaps  the  best  study  of  his  keenness  of  lit- 
erary criticism  will  be  found  in  his  correction  of 
Seward's  letter  of  instruction  to  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  minister  to  England,  under  date  of  May 
21,  1861.  Seward  was  a  brilliant  scholar,  a  pol- 
ished writer,  a  trained  diplomatist.  If  any 
person  were  able  to  compose  a  satisfactory  letter 
for  the  critical  conditions  of  that  period,  he  was 
the  one  American  most  likely  to  do  it.  He 
drafted  the  letter  and  submitted  it  to  Lincoln  for 
suggestions  and  corrections.  The  original  man- 
uscript with  Lincoln's  interlineations,  is  still 
preserved,  and  fac-similes,  or  copies,  are  given  in 
various  larger  volumes  of  Lincoln's  biography. 
This  document  is  very  instructive.  In  every  case 
Lincoln's  suggestion  is  a  marked  improvement 
on  the  original.  It  shows  that  he  had  the  better 
command  of  precise  English.  Lowell  himself 
could  not  have  improved  his  criticisms.  It  shows, 
too,  that  he  had  a  firmer  grasp  of  the  subject. 
Had  Seward's  paper  gone  without  these  correc- 
tions, it  is  almost  certain  that  diplomatic  rela- 
tions with  England  would  have  been  broken  off. 


360  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

In  literary   matters    Lincoln    was    plainly    the 
master  and  Seward  was  the  pupil. 

The  power  which  Lincoln  possessed  of  fitting 
language  to  thought  is  marked.  It  made  him 
the  matchless  story-teller,  and  gave  sublimity  to 
his  graver  addresses.  His  thoroughness  and 
accuracy  were  a  source  of  wonder  and  delight  to 
scholars.  He  had  a  masterful  grasp  of  great  sub- 
jects. He  was  able  to  look  at  events  from  all 
sides,  so  as  to  appreciate  how  they  would  appear 
to  different  grades  of  intelligence,  different  classes 
of  people,  different  sections  of  the  country.  More 
than  once  this  many-sidedness  of  his  mind  saved 
the  country  from  ruin.  Wit  and  humor  are 
usually  joined  with  their  opposite,  pathos,  and  it 
is  therefore  not  surprising  that,  being  eminent  in 
one,  he  should  possess  all  three  characteristics.  In 
his  conversation  his  humor  predominated,  in  his 
public  speeches  pure  reasoning  often  rose  to  pathos. 

If  the  author  were  to  select  a  few  of  his  speeches 
or  papers  fitted  to  give  the  best  example  of  his 
literary  qualities,  and  at  the  same  time  present 
an  evidence  of  the  progress  of  his  doctrine  along 
political  lines,  he  would  name  the  following : 
The  House-divided-against-itself  speech,  delivered 
at  Springfield  June  16,  1858.  The  underlying 
thought  of  this  was  that  the  battle  between  free- 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  361 

dom  and  slavery  was  sure  to  be  a  fight  to  the 
linish. 

Next  is  the  Cooper  Institute  speech,  Feb.  12, 
iS60.  The  argument  in  this  is  that,  in  the  thought 
and  intent  of  the  founders  of  our  government, 
the  Union  was  permanent  and  paramount,  while 
slavery  was  temporary  and  secondary. 

Next  was  his  inaugural,  March  4,  1861.  This 
warned  the  country  against  sectional  war.  It 
declared  temperately  but  firmly,  that  he  would 
perform  the  duties  which  his  oath  of  office  re- 
quired of  him,  but  he  would  not  begin  a  war  :  if 
war  came  the  aggressors  must  be  those  of  the 
other  side. 

The  next  was  the  Emancipation  Proclamation, 
September  22,  1862,  and  January  1,  1863.  This 
was  not  a  general  and  complete  emancipation  of 
all  slaves,  it  was  primarily  a  military  device,  a 
war  measure,  freeing  the  slaves  of  those  who  were 
in  actual  and  armed  rebellion  at  the  time.  It 
was  intended  to  weaken  the  belligerent  powers  of 
the  rebels,  and  a  notice  of  the  plan  was  furnished 
more  than  three  months  in  advance,  giving  ample 
time  to  all  who  wished  to  do  so,  to  submit  to  the 
laws  of  their  country  and  save  that  portion  of 
their  property  that  was  invested  in  slaves. 

Then  came  the  second  inaugural,  March  4, 1865. 


362  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

There  was  in  this  little  to  discuss,  for  he  had  no 
new  policy  to  proclaim,  he  was  simply  to  continue 
the  policy  of  the  past  four  years,  of  which  the 
country  had  shown  its  approval  by  reelecting 
him.  The  end  of  the  war  was  almost  in  sight,  it 
would  soon  be  finished.  But  in  this  address  there 
breathes  an  intangible  spirit  which  gives  it  mar- 
velous grandeur.  Isaiah  was  a  prophet  who  was 
also  a  statesman,  Lincoln — we  say  it  with  rev- 
erence— was  a  statesman  who  was  also  a  prophet. 
He  had  foresight.  He  had  insight.  He  saw  the 
hand  of  God  shaping  events,  he  saw  the  spirit  of 
God  in  events.  Such  is  his  spiritual  elevation  of 
thought,  such  his  tenderness  of  yearning,  that 
there  is  no  one  but  Isaiah  to  whom  we  may  fit- 
tingly compare  him,  in  the  manly  piety  of  his 
closing  paragraph  : 

"  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray, 
that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills  that  it  continue 
until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited  toil 
shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of  blood 
drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another 
drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand 
years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  '  The  judg- 
ments of  the  Lord  are  true  and  righteous  alto- 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  363 

gether,'  With  malice  toward  none,  with  charity 
for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives 
us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  to  finish  the 
work  we  are  in  ;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds  ; 
to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle, 
and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan  ;  to  do  all 
which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

The  study  of  these  five  speeches,  or  papers, 
will  give  the  salient  points  of  his  political  philos- 
ophy, and  incidentally  of  his  intellectual  develop- 
ment. These  are  not  enough  to  show  the  man 
Lincoln,  but  they  do  give  a  true  idea  of  the  great 
statesman.  They  show  a  symmetrical  and  won- 
derful growth.  Great  as  was  the  House-divided- 
against-itself  speech,  there  is  yet  a  wide  difference 
between  that  and  the  second  inaugural  :  and  the 
seven  years  intervening  accomplished  this  growth 
of  mind  and  of  spirit  only  because  they  were  years 
of  great  stress. 

Outside  of  this  list  is  the  address  at  the  dedi- 
cation of  Gettysburg  cemetery,  November  19, 
1863,  This  was  not  intended  for  an  oration. 
Edward  Everett  was  the  orator  of  the  occasion. 
Lincoln's  part  was  to  pronounce  the  formal  words 
of  dedication.  It  was  a  busy  time — all  times 
were  busy  with  him,  but  this  was  unusually  busy 


364  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

— and  he  wrote  it  on  a  sheet  of  foolscap  paper  in 
such  odd  moments  as  he  could  command.  In 
form  it  is  prose,  but  in  effect  it  is  a  poem.  Many 
of  its  sentences  are  rhythmical.  The  occasion 
lifted  him  into  a  higher  realm  of  thought.  The 
hearers  were  impressed  by  his  unusual  gravity 
and  solemnity  of  manner  quite  as  much,  perhaps, 
as  by  the  words  themselves.  They  were  awed, 
many  were  moved  to  tears.  The  speech  is  given 
in  full : 

"  Gettysburg  Address. 

"  Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago,  our  fathers 
brought  forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation, 
conceived  in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposi- 
tion that  all  men  are  created  equal.  Now  we 
are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war,  testing  whether 
that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a 
great  battle-field  of  that  war.  We  have  come  to 
dedicate  a  portion  of  that  field  as  a  final  resting- 
place  for  those  who  here  gave  their  lives  that 
that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether  fitting 
and  proper  that  we  should  do  this.  But  in  a 
larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate,  we  cannot  con- 
secrate, we  cannot  hallow  this  ground.  The 
brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here, 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  366 

have  consecrated  it  far  above  our  poor  power  to 
add  or  detract.  The  world  will  little  note,  nor 
long  remember,  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can 
never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the 
living,  rather  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  un- 
finished work  which  they  who  fought  here  have 
thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us 
to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining 
before  us, —that  from  these  honored  dead  we 
take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which 
they  gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion, — that 
we  here  highly  resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not 
have  died  in  vain, — that  this  nation,  under  God, 
shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom, — and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

The  effect  of  this  speech  was  not  immediate. 
Colonel  Lamon  was  on  the  platform  when  it  was 
delivered  and  he  says  very  decidedly  that  Everett, 
Seward,  himself,  and  Lincoln  were  all  of  opinion 
that  the  speech  was  a  failure.  He  adds:  "I 
state  it  as  a  fact,  and  without  fear  of  contradic- 
tion, that  this  famous  Gettysburg  speech  was  not 
regarded  by  the  audience  to  whom  it  was  ad- 
dressed, or  by  the  press  or  people  of  the  United 
States,  as  a  production  of  extraordinary  merit, 


366  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

nor  was  it  commented  on  as  such  until  after  the 
death  of  the  author." 

A  search  through  the  files  of  the  leading  New 
York  dailies  for  several  days  immediately  follow- 
ing the  date  of  the  speech,  seems  to  confirm 
Lamon's  remark — all  except  the  last  clause  above 
quoted.  These  papers  give  editorial  praise  to 
the  oration  of  Everett,  they  comment  favorably 
on  a  speech  by  Beecher  (who  had  just  returned 
from  England),  but  they  make  no  mention  of 
Lincoln's  speech.  It  is  true  that  a  day  or  two 
later  Everett  wrote  him  a  letter  of  congratulation 
upon  his  success.  But  this  may  have  been 
merely  generous  courtesy, — as  much  as  to  say, 
"Don't  feel  badly  over  it,  it  was  a  much  better 
speech  than  you  think  ! "  Or,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  may  have  been  the  result  of  his  sober  second 
thought,  the  speech  had  time  to  soak  in. 

But  the  silence  of  the  great  daily  papers  con- 
firms Lamon  up  to  a  certain  point.  At  the  very 
first  the  speech  was  not  appreciated.  But  after 
a  few  days  the  public  awoke  to  the  fact  that 
Lincoln's  '^  few  remarks "  were  immeasurably 
superior  to  Everett's  brilliant  and  learned  oration. 
The  author  distinctly  remembers  that  it  was 
compared  to  the  oration  of  Pericles  in  memory  of 
the  Athenian  dead ;  that  it  was  currently  said 


LITERARY  CHARACTERISTICS.  367 

that  there  had  been  no  memorial  oration  from 
that  date  to  Lincoln's  speech  of  equal  power. 
This  comparison  with  Pericles  is  certainly  high 
praise,  but  is  it  not  true  ?  The  two  orations  are 
very  different  :  Lincoln's  was  less  than  three 
hundred  words  long,  that  of  Pericles  near  three 
thousand.  Pericles  gloried  in  war,  Lincoln 
mourned  over  the  necessity  of  war  and  yearned 
after  peace.  But  both  orators  alike  appreciated 
the  glory  of  sacrifice  for  one's  country.  And  it 
is  safe  to  predict  that  this  Gettysburg  address, 
brief,  hastily  prepared,  underestimated  by  its 
author,  will  last  as  long  as  the  republic  shall 
last,  as  long  as  English  speech  shall  endure. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

SECOND   ELECTION. 

It  was  Lincoln's  life-long  habit  to  keep  himself 
close  to  the  plain  people.  He  loved  them.  He 
declared  that  the  Lord  must  love  them  or  he 
would  not  have  made  so  many  of  them.  Out  of 
them  he  came,  to  them  he  belonged.  In  youth 
he  was  the  perennial  peacemaker  and  umpire  of 
disputes  in  his  rural  neighborhood.  When  he 
was  President  the  same  people  instinctively 
turned  to  him  for  help.  The  servants  called  him 
Old  Abe, — from  them  a  term  of  affection,  not  of 
indignity.  The  soldiers  called  him  Father  Abra- 
ham. He  was  glad  to  receive  renowned  politi- 
cians and  prominent  business  men  at  the  White 
House  ;  he  was  more  glad  to  see  the  plain  people. 
When  a  farmer  neighbor  addressed  him  as 
"Mister  President,"  he  said,  ''Call  me  Lincoln." 
The  friendship  of  these  people  rested  him. 

Then,   too,  he  had  a  profound  realization  of 

their  importance  to  the  national  prosperity.     It 

was  their  instincts  that  constituted  the  national 
368 


SECOND  ELECTION.  369 

conscience.  It  was  their  votes  that  had  elected 
him.  It  was  their  muskets  that  had  defended 
the  capital.  It  was  on  their  loyalty  that  he 
counted  for  the  ultimate  triumph  of  the  Union 
cause.  As  his  administrative  policy  progressed 
it  was  his  concern  not  to  outstrip  them  so  far  as  to 
lose  their  support.  In  other  words,  he  was  to 
lead  them,  not  run  away  from  them.  His  confi- 
dence in  them  was  on  the  whole  well  founded, 
though  there  were  times  when  the  ground  seemed 
to  be  slipping  out  from  under  him. 

The  middle  portion  of  1864  was  one  such  period 
of  discouragement.  The  material  for  volunteer 
soldiers  was  about  exhausted,  and  it  was  becom- 
ing more  and  more  necessary  to  depend  upon  the 
draft,  and  that  measure  caused  much  friction. 
The  war  had  been  long,  costly,  sorrowful.  Grant 
was  before  Petersburg,  Farragut  at  Mobile,  and 
Sherman  at  Atlanta.  The  two  first  had  no 
promise  of  immediate  success,  and  as  to  the 
third  it  was  a  question  whether  he  was  not 
caught  in  his  own  trap.  This  prolongation  of 
the  war  had  a  bad  effect  on  the  northern  public. 

Lincoln,  shrewdly  and  fairly,  analyzed  the 
factions  of  loyal  people  as  follows  :  "We  are  in 
civil  war.     In  such  cases  there  always  is  a  main 

question  ;  but  in  this  case  that  question  is  a  per- 

24 


370  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

plexing  compound — Union  and  slavery.  It  thus 
becomes  a  question  not  of  two  sides  merely,  but 
of  at  least  four  sides,  even  among  those  who  are 
for  the  Union,  saying  nothing  of  those  who  are 
against  it.     Thus — 

"  Those  who  are  for  the  Union  with,  but  not 
without,  slavery  ; 

"  Those  for  it  without,  but  not  with  ; 

"  Those  for  it  with  or  without,  but  prefer  it 
with  ;  and 

*'  Those  for  it  with  or  without,  but  prefer  it 
without. 

"  Among  these  again  is  a  subdivision  of  those 
who  are  for  gradual,  but  not  for  immediate,  and 
those  who  are  for  immediate,  but  not  for  gradual, 
extinction  of  slavery." 

One  man  who  was  in  the  poHtical  schemes  of 
that  day  says  that  in  Washington  there  were 
only  three  prominent  politicians  who  were  not 
seriously  discontented  with  and  opposed  to  Lin- 
coln. The  three  named  were  Conkling,  Sumner, 
and  Wilson.  Though  there  was  undoubtedly  a 
larger  number  who  remained  loyal  to  their  chief, 
yet  the  discontent  was  general.  The  President 
himself  felt  this.  Nicolay  and  Hay  have  published 
a  note  which  impressively  tells  the  sorrowful 
story  : 


SECOND  ELECTION.  3Y1 

"  Executive  Mansion, 
"  Washington,  August  23,  1864. 

"  This  morning,  as  for  some  days  past,  it  seems 
exceedingly  probable  that  this  administration  will 
not  be  reelected.  Then  it  will  be  my  duty  to  so 
cooperate  with  the  President-elect  as  to  save  the 
Union  between  the  election  and  the  inauguration, 
as  he  will  have  secured  his  election  on  such  ground 
that  he  cannot  possibly  save  it  afterward. 

"  A.  Lincoln." 

Early  in  the  year  this  discontent  had  broken 
out  in  a  disagreeable  and  dangerous  form.  The 
malcontents  were  casting  about  to  find  a  candidate 
who  would  defeat  Lincoln.  They  first  tried 
General  Rosecrans,  and  from  him  they  got  an 
answer  of  no  uncertain  sound.  "  My  place,"  he 
declared,  "is  here.  The  country  gave  me  my 
education,  and  so  has  a  right  to  my  military 
services." 

Their  next  attempt  was  Grant,  with  whom  they 
fared  no  better.  Then  they  tried  Vice-President 
Hamlin  who  was  certainly  dissatisfied  with  the 
slowness  with  which  Lincoln  moved  in  the  direc- 
tion of  abolition.  But  Hamlin  would  not  be  a 
candidate  against  his  chief. 

Then  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury'-,   Chase, 


372  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

entered  the  race  as  a  rival  of  Lincoln.  When 
this  became  known,  the  President  was  urged  by 
his  friends  to  dismiss  from  the  cabinet  this  sec- 
retary who  was  so  far  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
administration  he  was  serving.  He  refused  to  do 
this  so  long  as  Chase  did  his  official  duties  well, 
and  when  Chase  offered  to  resign  he  told  him 
there  was  no  need  of  it.  But  the  citizens  of  Ohio, 
of  which  state  Chase  had  in  1860  been  the 
"  favorite  son,"  did  not  take  the  same  view  of 
the  matter.  Both  legislature  and  mass  meetings 
demanded  his  resignation  so  emphatically  that  he 
could  not  refuse.  He  did  resign  and  was  for  a 
short  time  in  private  life.  In  December,  1864, 
Lincoln,  in  the  full  knowledge  of  the  fact  that 
during  the  summer  Chase  had  done  his  utmost 
to  injure  him,  nominated  him  as  chief  justice,  and 
from  him  received  his  oath  of  office  at  his  second 
inaugural. 

The  search  for  a  rival  for  Lincoln  was  more 
successful  when  Fremont  was  solicited.  He  was 
nominated  by  a  convention  of  extreme  abolitionists 
that  met  in  the  city  of  Cleveland,  But  it  soon 
became  apparent  that  his  following  was  insignifi- 
cant, and  he  withdrew  his  name. 

The  regular  republican  convention  was  held  in 
Baltimore,  June  8,  1864.     Lincoln's  name  was 


SECOND  ELECTION.  373 

presented,  as  in  1860,  by  the  state  of  Illinois.  On 
the  first  ballot  he  received  every  vote  except  those 
from  the  state  of  Missouri.  When  this  was  done, 
the  Missouri  delegates  changed  their  votes  and  he 
was  nominated  unanimously. 

In  reply  to  congratulations,  he  said,  "  1  do  not 
allow  myself  to  suppose  that  either  the  conven- 
tion or  the  League  have  concluded  to  decide  that 
I  am  either  the  greatest  or  best  man  in  America, 
but  rather  that  they  have  concluded  that  it  is  not 
best  to  swap  horses  while  crossing  the  river,  and 
have  further  concluded  that  I  am  not  so  poor  a 
horse  that  they  might  not  make  a  botch  of  it 
trying  to  swap." 

That  homely  figure  of  "  swapping  horses  while 
crossing  the  river"  caught  the  attention  of  the 
country.  It  is  doubtful  if  ever  a  campaign 
speech,  or  any  series  of  campaign  speeches,  was 
so  effective  in  winning  and  holding  votes  as  that 
one  phrase. 

But,  as  has  already  been  said,  the  prospects 
during  the  summer, — for  there  was  a  period  of 
five  months  from  the  nomination  to  the  election, 
— were  anything  but  cheering.  At  this  crisis 
there  developed  a  means  of  vigorous  support 
which  had  not  previously  been  estimated  at  its 

full  value.     In  every  loyal  state  there  was  a 

t 


374:  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

"  war  governor."  Upon  these  men  the  burdens 
of  the  war  had  rested  so  heavily  that  they  under- 
stood, as  they  would  not  otherwise  have  under- 
stood, the  superlative  weight  of  cares  that  pressed 
on  the  President,  and  they  saw  more  clearly  than 
they  otherwise  could  have  seen,  the  danger  in 
swapping  horses  while  crossing  the  river.  These 
war  governors  rallied  with  unanimity  and 
with  great  earnestness  to  the  support  of  the 
President.  Other  willing  helpers  were  used. 
The  plain  people,  as  well  as  the  leading  patriots, 
rallied  to  the  support  of  the  President 

The  democrats  nominated  McClellan  on  the 
general  theory  that  the  war  was  a  failure.  As 
election  day  approached,  the  increased  vigor  with 
which  the  war  was  prosecuted  made  it  look  less 
like  a  failure,  even  though  success  was  not  in 
sight.  The  result  of  the  election  was  what  in 
later  days  would  be  called  a  landslide.  There 
were  two  hundred  and  thirty-three  electors.  Of 
this  number  two  hundred  and  twelve  were  for 
Lincoln,  The  loyal  North  was  back  of  him.  He 
might  now  confidently  gird  himself  for  finishing 
the  work. 

Such  was  his  kindliness  of  spirit  that  he  was 
not  unduly  elated  by  success,  and  never,  either  in 
trial  or  achievement,  did  he  become  vindictive  or 


SECOND  ELECTION.  3Y5 

revengeful.  After  the  election  he  was  serenaded, 
and  in  acknowledgment  he  made  a  little  speech. 
Among  other  things  he  said,  "  Now  that  the 
election  is  over,  may  not  all,  having  a  common 
interest,  reunite  in  a  common  effort  to  save  our 
common  country?  For  my  own  part,  I  have 
striven,  and  will  strive,  to  place  no  obstacle  in  the 
way.  So  long  as  I  have  been  here  I  have  not 
willingly  planted  a  thorn  in  any  man's  bosom." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR. 

As  the  year  1864  wore  towards  its  close,  military 
events  manifestly  approached  a  climax.  In  1861 
the  two  armies  were  comparatively  green.  For 
obvious  reasons  the  advantage  was  on  the  side  of 
the  South.  The  South  had  so  long  been  in  sub- 
stantial control  at  Washington  that  they  had  the 
majority  of  the  genex'als,  they  had  nearly  all  the 
arms  and  ammunition,  and,  since  they  had 
planned  the  coming  conflict,  their  militia  were  in 
the  main  in  better  condition.  But  matters  were 
different  after  three  years.  The  armies  on  both 
sides  were  no^v  composed  of  veterans,  the  generals 
had  been  tried  and  their  value  was  known.  Not 
least  of  all,  Washington,  while  by  no  means  free 
from  spies,  was  not  so  completely  overrun  with 
them  as  at  the  first.  At  the  beginning  the  de- 
partments were  simply  full  of  spies,  and  every 
movement  of  the  government  was  promptly  re- 
ported to  the  authorities  at  Richmond.  Three 
and  a  half  years  had  sufficed  to  weed  out  most  of 

these. 

376 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR.  377 

In  that  period  a  splendid  navy  had  been  con- 
structed. The  Mississippi  River  was  open  from 
Minnesota  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  Every  southern 
port  was  more  or  less  successfully  blockaded,  and 
the  power  of  the  government  in  this  was  every 
month  growing  stronger. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  the  available  population 
of  the  North  had  increased.  The  figures  which 
Lincoln  gave  prove  this.  The  loyal  states  of  the 
North  gave  in  1860  a  sum  total  of  3,870,222  votes. 
The  same  states  in  186-1  gave  a  total  of  3,982,011. 
That  gave  an  excess  of  voters  to  the  number  of 
111,Y89.  To  this  should  be  added  the  number  of 
all  the  soldiers  in  the  field  from  Massachusetts, 
Ehode  Island,  New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  and  California,  who  by  the  laws  of  those 
states  could  not  vote  away  from  their  homes,  and 
which  number  could  not  have  been  less  than 
90,000.  Then  there  were  two  new  states,  Kansas 
and  Nevada,  that  had  cast  33,762  votes.  This 
leaves  an  increase  for  the  North  of  231:,  551  votes. 
It  is  plain  that  the  North  was  not  becoming  ex- 
hausted of  men. 

Nor  had  the  manufactures  of  the  North  de- 
creased. The  manufacture  of  arms  and  all  the 
munitions  of  war  was  continually  improving,  and 
other  industrial  interests  were  flourishing.    There 


378  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  indeed  much  poverty  and  great  suffering. 
The  financial  problem  was  one  of  the  most  serious 
of  all,  but  in  all  these  the  South  was  suffering 
more  than  the  North.  On  the  southern  side 
matters  were  growing  desperate.  The  factor  of 
time  now  counted  against  them,  for,  except  in 
military  discipline,  they  were  not  improving  with 
the  passing  years.  There  was  little  hope  of 
foreign  intervention,  there  was  not  much  hope  of 
a  counter  uprising  in  the  North.  It  is  now  gen- 
erally accepted  as  a  certainty  that,  if  the  Con- 
federate government  had  published  the  truth 
concerning  the  progress  of  the  war,  especially  of 
such  battles  as  Chattanooga,  the  southern  people 
would  have  recognized  the  hopelessness  of  their 
cause  and  the  wickedness  of  additional  slaughter, 
and  the  war  would  have  terminated  sooner. 

In  the  eighth  volume  of  the  History  by  Nicolay 
and  Hay  there  is  a  succession  of  chapters  of  which 
the  headings  alone  tell  the  glad  story  of  progress. 
These  headings  are:  "Arkansas  Free,"  Louis- 
iana Free,"  "  Tennessee  Free,"  "  Maryland  Free," 
and  "Missouri  Free." 

In  August  Admiral  Farragut  had  captured 
Mobile.  General  Grant  with  his  veterans  was 
face  to  face  with  General  Lee  and  his  veterans  in 
Virginia.     General  Sherman  with   his  splendid 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR,  379 

army  had  in  the  early  fall  struck  through  the 
territory  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  and  on 
Christmas  day  had  captured  Savannah.  The  fol- 
lowing letter  from  the  President  again  shows  his 
friendliness  towards  his  generals  : 

"  Executive  Mansion, 
"  Washington,  December  26, 1864. 

"  My  dear  General  Sherman  : 

''Many,  many  thanks  for  your  Christmas  gift, 
the  capture  of  Savannah. 

"  When  you  were  about  leaving  Atlanta  for  the 
Atlantic,  1  was  anxious,  if  not  fearful ;  but  feel- 
ing that  you  were  the  better  judge,  and  remem- 
bering that '  nothing  risked,  nothing  gained,'  I  did 
not  interfere.  Now,  the  undertaking  being  a  suc- 
cess, the  honor  is  all  yours  ;  for  I  believe  none  of 
us  went  further  than  to  acquiesce. 

"  And  taking  the  work  of  General  Thomas  into 
the  count,  as  it  should  be  taken,  it  is  indeed  a 
great  success.  Not  only  does  it  afford  the  obvious 
and  immediate  military  advantages  ;  but  in  show- 
ing to  the  world  that  your  army  could  be  divided, 
putting  the  stronger  part  to  an  important  new 
service,  and  yet  leaving  enough  to  vanquish  the 
old  opposing  force  of  the  whole, — Hood's  army, 


380  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

— it  brings  those  who  sat  in  darkness  to  see  a 
great  light.     But  what  next  ? 

"I  suppose  it  will  be  safe  if  I  leave  General 
Grant  and  yourself  to  decide. 

"Please make  my  grateful  acknowledgment  to 
your  whole  army — officers  and  men. 

Yours  very  truly, 


i(  ■ 

"A.  Lincoln." 


The  principal  thing  now  to  be  done  was  the  de- 
struction of  the  Confederate  army  or  armies  in 
Virginia.  That  and  that  only  could  end  the  war. 
The  sooner  it  should  be  done  the  better.  Grant's 
spirit  cannot  in  a  hundred  pages  be  better  ex- 
pressed than  in  his  own  epigram, — ''I  propose  to 
fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer." 
It  did  take  all  summer  and  all  winter  too,  for  the 
Confederates  as  well  as  the  Federals  had  grown 
to  be  good  fighters,  and  they  were  no  cowards. 
They,  too,  were  now  acting  on  the  defensive  and 
were  able  to  take  advantage  of  swamp,  hill,  and 
river.  This  was  an  important  factor.  Grant 
had  indeed  captured  two  armies  and  destroyed 
one,  but  this  was  different. 

It  needed  not  an  experienced  eye  or  a  military 
training  to  see  that  this  could  only  be  done  at  a 
costly  sacrifice  of  life.     But  let  it  be  remembered 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR. 


381 


that  the  three  years  of  uo  progress  had  also  been 
at  a  costly  sacrifice  of  life.  The  deadly  malaria 
of  Virginia  swamps  was  quite  as  dangerous  as  a 
bullet  or  bayonet.  Thousands  upon  thousands  of 
soldiers  were  taken  to 
hospital  cursing  in 
their  wrath:  ''If  I 
could  only  have  been 
shot  on  the  field  of 
battle,  there  would 
have  been  some  glory 
in  it.     But  to  die  of 

drinking  the  swamp 
water  —  this  is  aw- 
ful ! "  The  sacrifice 
of  life  under  Grant 
was  appalling,  but  it 
Was  not  greater  than 
the  other  sort  of  sacri- 
fice had  been.  What 
is  more,  it  accom- 
plished     its     purpose.      Grant's  campaign  around  Richmond. 

Inch  by  inch  he  fought  his  way  through  many 
bloody  months  to  the  evacuation  of  Richmond  and 
the  surrender  of    Lee's   army   at    Appomattox, 
April  9,  1865.     Then  the  war  was  over. 
The  sympathies  of  the  President  v/ere  not  lim- 


382  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

ited  to  his  own  friends  or  his  own  array.  The 
author  is  permitted  to  narrate  the  following  inci- 
dent— doubtless  there  were  many  others  like  it — 
which  is  given  by  an  eye-witness,  the  Keverend 
Lysander  Dickerman,  D.  D.,  of  New  York  City  : 

It  was  at  Hatcher's  Run  on  the  last  Sunday  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  war.  A  detachment  of  Con- 
federate prisoners,  possibly  two  thousand  in  all, 
had  just  been  brought  in.  They  were  in  rags, 
starved,  sick,  and  altogether  as  wretched  a  sight  as 
one  would  be  willing  to  see  in  a  lifetime.  A  train 
of  cars  was  standing  on  the  siding.  The  Presi- 
dent came  out  of  a  car  and  stood  on  the  platform. 
As  he  gazed  at  the  pitiable  sufferers,  he  said  not 
a  word,  but  his  breast  heaved  with  emotion,  his 
frame  quivered.  The  tears  streamed  down  his 
cheeks  and  he  raised  his  arm  ("I  don't  suppose," 
commented  the  Doctor,  ''he  had  a  handker- 
chief ")  and  with  his  sleeve  wiped  away  the  tears. 
Then  he  silently  turned,  reentered  the  car  which 
but  for  him  was  empty,  sat  down  on  the  further 
side,  buried  his  face  in  his  hands,  and  wept.  That 
is  the  picture  of  the  man  Lincoln.  Little  did  the 
Southerners  suspect,  as  they  in  turn  cursed  and 
maligned  that  great  and  tender  man,  what  a 
noble  friend  they  really  had  in  him. 

As  the  end  came  in  sight  an  awkward  question 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR.  383 

arose,  What  shall  we  do  with  Jeff  Davis — if  we 
catch  him  ?  This  reminded  the  President  of  a 
little  story.  ''  I  told  Grant,"  he  said,  "  the  story 
of  an  Irishman  who  had  taken  Father  Matthew's 
pledge.  Soon  thereafter,  becoming  very  thirsty, 
he  slipped  into  a  saloon  and  applied  for  a  lemon- 
ade, and  whilst  it  was  being  mixed  he  whispered 
to  the  bar-tender,  '  Av  ye  could  drap  a  bit  o' 
brandy  in  it,  all  unbeknown  to  myself,  I'd  make 
no  fuss  about  it.'  My  notion  was  that  if  Grant 
could  let  Jeff  Davis  escape  all  unbeknown  to 
himself,  he  was  to  let  him  go.  I  didn't  want 
him. "  Subsequent  events  proved  the  sterling  wis- 
dom of  this  suggestion,  for  the  country  had  no  use 
for  Jeff  Davis  when  he  was  caught. 

Late  in  March,  1865,  the  President  decided  to 
take  a  short  vacation,  said  to  be  the  first  he  had 
had  since  entering  the  White  House  in  1861. 
With  a  few  friends  he  went  to  City  Point  on  the 
James  River,  where  Grant  had  his  headquarters. 
General  Sherman  came  up  for  a  conference.  The 
two  generals  were  confident  that  the  end  of  the 
■  ir  was  near,  but  they  were  also  certain  that 
-liere  must  be  at  least  one  more  great  battle. 
"  Avoid  this  if  possible,"  said  the  President. 
"  No  more  bloodshed,  no  more  bloodshed." 

On  the  second  day  of  April  both  Richmond  and 


384  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Petersburg  were  evacuated.  The  President 
was  determined  to  see  Eichmond  and  started 
under  the  care  of  Admiral  Porter.  The  river  was 
tortuous  and  all  knew  that  the  channel  was  full 
of  obstructions  so  that  they  had  the  sensation  of 
being  in  suspense  as  to  the  danger  of  torpedoes 
and  other  devices.  Admiral  Farragut  who  was 
in  Eichmond  came  down  the  river  on  the  same 
day,  April  4th,  to  meet  the  presidential  party. 
An  accident  happened  to  his  boat  and  it  swung 
across  the  channel  and  there  stuck  fast,  com- 
pletely obstructing  the  channel,  and  rendering 
progress  in  either  direction  impossible.  The 
members  of  the  presidential  party  were  impatient 
and  decided  to  proceed  as  best  they  could.  They 
were  transferred  to  the  Admiral's  barge  and 
towed  up  the  river  to  their  destination. 

The  grandeur  of  that  triumphal  entry  into 
Eichmond  was  entirely  moral,  not  in  the  least 
spectacular.  There  were  no  triumphal  arches, 
no  martial  music,  no  applauding  multitudes,  no 
vast  cohorts  with  flying  banners  and  glittering 
arms.  Only  a  few  American  citizens,  in  plain 
clothes,  on  foot,  escorted  by  ten  marines.  The 
central  figure  was  that  of  a  man  remarkably  tall, 
homely,  ill-dressed,  but  with  a  countenance  ra- 
diating joy  and  good- will.     It  was  only  thirty. 


CLOSE  OF  THE  WAR.  385 

six  hours  since  Jefiferson  Davis  had  fled,  having 
set  fire  to  the  city,  and  the  fire  was  still  burning. 
There  was  no  magnificent  civic  welcome  to  the 
modest  party,  but  there  was  a  spectacle  more 
significant.  It  was  the  large  number  of  negroes, 
crowding,  kneeling,  praying,  shouting  "Bress  de 
Lawd  !  "  Their  emancipator,  their  Moses,  their 
Messiah,  had  come  in  person.  To  them  it  was 
the  beginning  of  the  millennium.  A  few  poor 
whites  added  their  welcome,  such  as  it  was,  and 
that  was  all.  But  all  knew  that  "  Babylon  had 
fallen,"  and  they  realized  the  import  of  that  fact. 
Johnston  did  not  surrender  to  Sherman  until 
April  26th,  but  Lee  had  surrendered  on  the  9th, 
and  it  was  conceded  that  it  was  a  matter  of  but  a 
few  days  when  the  rest  also  would  surrender. 
On  Good  Friday,  April  14th,— a  day  glorious  in 
its  beginning,  tragic  at  its  close,— the  newspapers 
throughout  the  North  published  an  order  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  stopping  the  draft  and  the  pur- 
chase of  arms  and  munitions  of  war.  The 
government  had  decreed  that  at  twelve  o'clock 
noon  of  that  day  the  stars  and  stripes  should  be 
raised  above  Fort  Sumter.  The  chaplain  was 
the  Reverend  Matthias  Harris  who  had  officiated 
at  the  raising  of  the  flag  over  that  fort  in  1860. 
The  reading  of  the  psalter  was  conducted  by  the 

2$ 


386  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Eeverend  Dr.  Storrs  of  Brooklyn.  The  orator  of 
the  occasion  was  the  eloquent  Henry  Ward 
Beecher.  And  the  flag  was  raised  by  Major  (now 
General)  Anderson,  whose  staunch  loyalty  and 
heroic  defense  has  linked  his  name  inseparably 
with  Sumter. 

The  war  was  over  and  Lincoln  at  once  turned 
his  attention  to  the  duties  of  reconstruction. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

ASSASSINATION. 

Ward  H.  Lamon  asserts  that  there  was  no  day, 
frora  the  morning  Lincoln  left  Springfield  to  the 
night  of  his  assassination,  when  his  life  was  not 
in  serious  peril.  If  we  make  generous  allowance 
for  the  fears  which  had  their  root  in  Lamon's 
devoted  love  for  his  chief,  and  for  that  natural 
desire  to  magnify  his  office — for  his  special  charge 
was  to  guard  the  President  from  bodily  harm — 
which  would  incline  him  to  estimate  trifles 
seriously,  we  are  still  compelled  to  believe  that 
the  life  was  in  frequent,  if  not  continual,  danger. 
There  are,  and  always  have  been,  men  whose 
ambition  is  in  the  direction  of  a  startling  crime. 
There  were  not  less  than  three  known  attempts 
on  the  life  of  Lincoln  between  Springfield  and 
Washington.  There  may  have  been  others  that 
are  not  known.  If  any  one  was  in  a  position  to 
know  of  real  and  probable  plots  against  the  Presi- 
dent's life,  it  was  Lamon.     It  was  he,  too,  who 

showed  the  greatest  concern  upon  the  subject, 

387 


388  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

though  he  was  personally  a  man  of  unlimited 
courage. 

An  event  occurred  early  in  1862,  which  we  here 
transcribe,  not  merely  because  of  its  intrinsic 
interest,  but  especially  because  it  hints  of  dangers 
not  known  to  the  public.  Lincoln  was  at  this 
time  residing  at  the  Soldier's  Home  and  was 
accustomed  to  riding  alone  to  and  from  this 
place.  His  friends  could  not  prevail  on  him  to 
accept  an  escort,  though  they  were  in  daily  fear 
of  kidnapping  or  murder.  Lamon  narrates  the 
occurrence  substantially  (in  the  President's  words) 
as  follows :  One  day  he  rode  up  to  the  White 
House  steps,  where  the  Colonel  met  him,  and  with 
his  face  full  of  fun,  he  said,  "  I  have  something 
to  tell  you."  The  two  entered  the  office,  where, 
the  President  locked  the  door  and  proceeded  : 

"  You  know  I  have  always  told  you  I  thought 
you  an  idiot  that  ought  to  be  put  in  a  strait 
jacket  for  your  apprehensions  of  my  personal 
danger  from  assassination.  You  also  know  that 
the  way  we  skulked  into  this  city  in  the  first 
place  has  been  a  source  of  shame  and  regret  to 
me,  for  it  did  look  so  cowardly  ! " 
Yes,  go  on." 

Well,  I  don't  now  propose  to  make  you  my 
father-confessor  and  acknowledge  a  change    of 


ASSASSINATION.  389 

heart,  yet  I  am  free  to  admit  that  just  now  I 
don't  know  what  to  think  :  I  am  staggered. 
Understand  me,  I  do  not  want  to  oppose  my 
pride  of  opinion  against  light  and  reason,  but  I 
am  in  such  a  state  of  '  betweenity '  in  my  con- 
clusions, that  I  can't  say  that  the  judgment  of 
this  court  is  prepared  to  proclaim  a  decision  upon 
the  facts  presented." 

After  a  pause  he  continued  : 

'^  Last  night  about  eleven  o'clock,  I  went  to  the 
Soldiers'  Home  alone,  riding  Old  Abe,  as  you  call 
him  ;  and  when  I  arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
on  the  road  leading  to  the  entrance  to  the  Home 
grounds,  I  was  jogging  along  at  a  slow  gait, 
immersed  in  deep  thought,  when  suddenly  I  was 
aroused — I  may  say  the  arousement  lifted  me 
out  of  my  saddle  as  well  as  out  of  my  wits — by  the 
report  of  a  rifle,  and  seemingly  the  gunner  was 
not  fifty  yards  from  where  my  contemplations 
ended  and  my  accelerated  transit  began.  My 
erratic  namesake,  with  little  warning,  gave  proof 
of  decided  dissatisfaction  at  the  racket,  and  with 
one  reckless  bound  he  unceremoniously  separated 
me  from  my  eight-dollar  plug  hat,  with  which  I 
parted  company  without  any  assent,  express  or 
implied,  upon  my  part.  At  a  break-neck  speed 
we  soon  arrived   in  a  haven   of  safety.     Mean- 


390  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

while  I  was  left  in  doubt  whether  death  was 
more  desirable  from  being  thrown  from  a  run- 
away Federal  horse,  or  as  the  tragic  result  of  a 
rifle-ball  fired  by  a  disloyal  bushwhacker  in  the 
middle  of  the  night. 

*'  I  tell  you  there  is  no  time  on  record  equal  to 
that  made  by  the  two  Old  Abes  on  that  occasion. 
The  historic  ride  of  John  Gilpin,  and  Henry 
Wilson's  memorable  display  of  bareback  eques- 
trianship  on  the  stray  army  mule  from  the  scenes 
of  the  battle  of  Bull  Eun,  a  year  ago,  are  nothing 
in  comparison  to  mine,  either  in  point  of  time 
made  or  in  ludicrous  pageantry. 

''No  good  can  result  at  this  time  from  giving 
[this  occurrence]  publicity.  It  does  seem  to  me 
that  I  am  in  more  danger  from  the  augmenta- 
tion of  an  imaginary  peril  than  from  a  judicious 
silence,  be  the  danger  ever  so  great ;  and,  more- 
over, I  do  not  want  it  understood  that  I  share 
your  apprehensions.     I  never  have." 

When  one  takes  into  account  the  number  of 
Lincoln's  bitter  enemies,  and  the  desperate  char- 
acter of  some  of  them,  the  wonder  is  that  he 
was  not  shot  sooner.  There  were  multitudes  of 
ruffians  in  Washington  City  and  elsewhere,  who 
had  murder  in  their  hearts  and  plenty  of  deadly 
weapons  within  reach.     Yet  Lincoln  lived  on  for 


ASSASSINATION.  39I 

four  years,  and  was  reluctant  to  accept  even 
a  nominal  body  guard.  The  striking  parallel 
between  him  and  William  the  Silent  will  at  once 
occur  to  the  reader.  He,  like  Lincoln,  would 
take  no  precaution.  He  exposed  himself  freely, 
and  there  were  plots  almost  innumerable  against 
his  life  before  he  was  slain.  Such  persons  seem 
to  have  invisible  defenders. 

Lincoln  was  not  a  fatalist,  but  he  did  believe 
that  he  would  live  to  complete  his  specific  work 
and  that  he  would  not  live  beyond  that.  Perhaps 
he  was  wise  in  this.  Had  he  surrounded  himself 
with  pomp  and  defense  after  the  manner  of 
Fremont  he  could  not  have  done  his  work  at  all, 
for  his  special  calling  required  that  he  should 
keep  near  to  the  people,  and  not  isolate  himself. 
Moreover,  it  is  a  question  whether  an  elaborate 
show  of  defense  would  not  have  invited  a  corre- 
spondingly elaborate  ingenuity  in  attack.  His 
very  trustfulness  must  have  disarmed  some. 
The  wonder  is  not  that  he  was  slain  at  last,  but 
that  under  the  circumstances  he  was  not  slain 
earlier. 

Much  has  been  written,  and  perhaps  justly,  of 
Lincoln's  presentiments.  It  is  not  exceptional, 
it  is  common  in  all  rural  communities  to  multiply 
and  magnify  signs.     The  commonest  occurrences 


392  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

are  invested  with  an  occult  meaning.  Seeing 
the  new  moon  over  the  right  shoulder  or  over  the 
left  shoulder,  the  howling  of  a  dog  at  night,  the 
chance  assemblage  of  thirteen  persons,  the  spill- 
ing of  salt, — these  and  a  thousand  other  things 
are  taken  to  be  signs  of  something.  The  habit 
of  attending  to  these  things  probably  originates 
in  mere  amusements.  It  takes  the  place,  or 
furnishes  the  material,  of  small  talk.  But  years 
of  attention  to  these  things,  especially  in  the 
susceptible  period  of  childhood  and  youth,  are 
almost  certain  to  have  a  lasting  effect.  A  per- 
son gets  into  the  habit  of  noting  them,  of  looking 
for  them,  and  the  influence  becomes  ingrained 
in  his  very  nature  so  that  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  shake  it  off.  This  condition  is  a  feature  of  all 
rural  communities,  not  only  in  the  West,  but  in 
New  England  :  in  fact,  in  Europe,  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Australia. 

Lincoln  shared  the  impressibility  of  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  grew  up ;  no  more,  no  less. 
Like  all  the  rest,  indeed,  like  all  of  mankind,  he 
counted  the  hits,  not  the  misses.  Being  unusually 
outspoken,  he  often  told  of  impressions  which 
another  would  not  have  mentioned.  The  very 
telling  of  them  magnified  their  importance.  He 
had  been  having  premonitions  all  his  life,  and  it 


ASSASSINATION.  393 

would  be  strange  if  he  did  not  have  some  just 
before  his  death.  He  did,  and  these  are  the  ones 
that  are  remembered. 

In  spite  of  all,  he  was  in  excellent  spirits  on 
Good  Friday,  April  14,  1865.  The  burdens  and 
sorrows  of  bloodshed  had  made  an  old  man  of  him. 
But  the  war  was  at  an  end,  the  stars  and  stripes 
were  floating  over  Sumter,  the  Union  was  saved, 
and  slavery  was  doomed.  There  came  back  into 
his  eyes  the  light  that  had  long  been  absent. 
Those  who  were  about  him  said  the  elasticity  of 
his  movements  and  joyousness  of  his  manner 
were  marked.  ' '  His  mood  all  day  was  singularly 
happy  and  tender." 

The  events  of  the  day  were  simple.  It  was  the 
day  of  the  regular  meeting  of  the  cabinet.  Grant, 
who  had  arrived  in  Washington  that  morning, 
attended  this  meeting.  It  was  the  President's 
idea  that  the  leaders  of  the  Confederacy  should 
be  allowed  to  escape, — much  as  he  had  already 
jocularly  advised  Grant  to  let  Jeff  Davis  escape 
"  all  unbeknown  to  himself."  He  spoke  plainly 
on  the  subject.  ''  No  one  need  expect  me  to  take 
any  part  in  hanging  or  killing  these  men,  even 
the  worst  of  them.  Enough  lives  have  been 
sacrificed."  After  the  discussion  of  various 
matters,  when  the  cabinet  adjourned  until  the 


394  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

following  Tuesday,  the  last  words  he  ever  uttered 
to  them  were  that  "  they  must  now  begin  to  act 
in  the  interests  of  peace." 

In  the  afternoon  he  went  for  a  drive  with  Mrs. 
Lincoln.  The  conversation  embraced  plans  of 
living — in  Chicago  ?  or  California  ? — after  the  ex- 
piration of  his  term  of  office.  This  fact  shows 
that  his  presentments  did  not  make  so  real  an 
impression  on  him  as  many  people  have  believed. 

Three  days  before  this  his  devoted  servant 
Colonel  Lamon — we  might  almost  call  him  his 
faithful  watch- dog,  so  loving,  loyal,  and  watch- 
ful was  he — had  gone  on  an  errand  for  him  to 
Richmond.  Lamon,  who  was  loath  to  start,  tried 
to  secure  from  him  a  promise  in  advance  of  divulg- 
ing what  it  was  to  be.  Lincoln,  after  much  urg- 
ing, said  he  thought  he  would  venture  to  make 
the  promise.  It  was  that  he  would  promise  not 
to  go  out  after  night  in  Lamon 's  absence,  and 
particularly  to  the  theater  (italics  Lamon's).  The 
President  first  joked  about  it,  but  being  persist- 
ently entreated  said  at  last:  "Well,  I  promise 
to  do  the  best  I  can  towards  it." 

But  for  the  evening  of  the  day  under  considera- 
tion, Mrs.  Lincoln  had  got  up  a  theater  party — 
her  husband  was  always  fond  of  the  diversion  of 
the  theater.     The  party  was  to  include  General 


ASSASSINATION.  395 

and  Mrs.  Grant.  But  the  general's  plans  required 
him  to  go  that  evening  to  Philadelphia,  and  so 
Major  Eathbone  and  Miss  Harris  were  substituted. 
This  party  occupied  the  upper  proscenium  box  on 
the  right  of  the  stage. 

About  ten  o'clock,  J.  Wilkes  Booth,  a  young 
actor  twenty-six  years  of  age,  and  very  hand- 
some, glided  along  the  corridor  towards  that  box. 
Being  himself  an  actor  and  well  known  by  the 
employees  of  the  theater,  he  was  suffered  to  pro- 
ceed without  hindrance.  Passing  through  the 
corridor  door  he  fastened  it  shut  by  means  of  a 
bar  that  fitted  into  a  niche  previously  prepared, 
and  making  an  effectual  barricade.  A  hole  had 
been  bored  through  the  door  leading  into  the  box 
so  that  he  could  survey  the  inmates  without  at- 
tracting their  attention.  With  revolver  in  one 
hand  and  dagger  in  the  other  he  noiselessly  en- 
tered the  box  and  stood  directly  behind  the  Presi- 
dent who  was  enjoying  the  humor  of  the  comedy. 

''  The  awful  tragedy  in  the  box  makes  every- 
thing else  seem  pale  and  unreal.  Here  were  five 
human  beings  in  a  narrow  space — the  greatest  man 
of  his  time,  in  the  glory  of  the  most  stupendous 
success  in  our  history,  the  idolized  chief  of  a  nation 
already  mighty,  with  illimitable  vistas  of  grandeur 
to  come ;  his  beloved  wife,  proud  and  happy  ;  a 


396  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

pair  of  betrothed  lovers,  with  all  the  promise 
of  felicity  that  youth,  social  jDOsition,  and  wealth 
could  give  them  ;  and  this  young  actor,  hand- 
some as  Endymion  upon  Latmos,  the  pet  of  his 
little  world.  The  glitter  of  fame,  happiness, 
and  ease  was  upon  the  entire  group,  but  in 
an  instant  everything  was  to  be  changed  with  the 
blinding  swiftness  of  enchantment.  Quick  death 
was  to  come  on  the  central  figure  of  that  com- 
pany— the  central  figure,  we  believe,  of  the  great 
and  good  men  of  the  century.  Over  all  the  rest 
the  blackest  fates  hovered  menacingly — fates 
from  which  a  mother  might  pray  that  kindly 
death  would  save  her  children  in  their  infancy. 
One  was  to  wander  with  the  stain  of  murder  on  his 
soul,  with  the  curses  of  a  world  upon  his  name, 
with  a  price  set  upon  his  head,  in  frightful 
physical  pain,  till  he  died  a  dog's  death  in  a 
burning  barn  ;  the  stricken  wife  was  to  pass  the 
rest  of  her  days  in  melancholy  and  madness ; 
of  those  two  young  lovers,  one  was  to  slay  the 
other,  and  then  end  his  life  a  raving  maniac" 
(Nicolay  and  Hay,  X.  295). 

The  revolver  was  thrust  near  to  the  back  of 
the  head  of  the  unsuspecting  victim — that  kind 
man  who  had  ''never  willingly  planted  a  thorn 
in  any  man's  bosom,"  who  could  not  bear   to 


THE  ASSASSINATION  OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN. 

Life  of  Lincoln.— Page  397. 


ASSASSINATION.  397 

witness  suffering  even  in  an  animal.  The  report 
of  the  pistol  was  somewhat  muffled  and  was  un- 
noticed by  the  majority  of  the  audience.  The 
ball  penetrated  the  President's  brain,  and  without 
word  or  sound  his  head  dropped  upon  his  breast. 
Major  Rathbone  took  in  the  situation  and  sprang 
at  the  murderer  who  slashed  him  savagely  with 
the  dagger,  tore  himself  free,  and  leaped  over 
the  balustrade  upon  the  stage.  It  was  not  a 
high  leap  for  an  athletic  young  man,  but  his  spur 
caught  in  a  flag  with  which  the  box  was  draped, 
so  that  he  did  not  strike  quite  squarely  on  his 
feet.  The  result  was  that  he  broke  his  leg  or 
ankle.  But  gathering  himself  up,  he  flourished 
his  dagger,  declaiming  the  motto  of  Virginia, 
Sic  semper  Tyrannis  (Thus  ever  to  tyrants),  and 
before  the  audience  could  realize  what  was  done, 
he  disappeared.  He  ran  out  of  the  rear  of  the 
theater  where  a  fleet  horse  was  in  waiting.  He 
mounted  and  rode  for  his  life.  For  eleven  days 
he  was  in  hiding,  with  the  curse  of  Cain  upon 
him,  suffering  all  the  while  excruciating  agonies 
from  his  broken  leg,  which  could  be  but  im- 
perfectly cared  for.  He  was  finally  corralled  in 
a  barn,  the  barn  was  set  on  fire,  and  while  thus 
at  bay  he  was  shot  down. 
Aid  came  at  once  to  the  President,  but  the 


398  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

surgeons  saw  at  a  glance  that  the  wound  was 
mortal.  They  carried  him  out  into  the  open  air. 
When  they  reached  the  street  the  question  arose, 
Where  shall  v/e  take  him  ?  On  the  opposite  side 
of  the  street  was  an  unpretentious  hotel.  A 
man,  standing  on  the  front  steps,  saw  the  com- 
motion and  asked  what  it  meant.  On  being  told, 
he  said,  "Take  him  to  my  room."  It  was  thus 
that  the  greatest  man  of  the  age  died  in  a  small 
room  of  a  common  hotel.  But  this  was  not  un- 
jStting  ;  he  was  of  the  plain  people,  he  always 
loved  them,  and  among  them  he  closed  his  earthly 
record.  He  lingered  unconscious  through  the 
night,  and  at  twenty  minutes  after  seven  o'clock, 
on  the  morning  of  April  15th,  he  died. 

The  band  of  assassins  of  which  Booth  was  the 
head,  planned  to  murder  also  other  officials. 
Grant  escaped,  having  suddenly  left  the  city.  The 
only  other  person  who  was  actually  attacked 
was  Seward.  Though  the  assassin  was  a  giant 
in  stature  and  in  strength,  though  he  fought  like 
a  madman,  and  though  Seward  was  at  the  time 
in  bed  with  his  right  arm  and  jaw  fractured, 
he  having  been  thrown  from  a  horse,  yet 
strangely  enough  he  was  not  killed.  The  assassin 
inflicted  many  and  terrible  wounds,  especially 
upon  Frederick   Seward,  his  son,  who  did   not 


ASSASSINATION.  399 

regain  consciousness  for  weeks  ;  but  no  one  in 
that  house  was  killed. 

Surely  never  did  the  telegraph  bear  heavier 
news  than  when  it  flashed  the  message,  "  Lincoln 
has  been  assassinated."  More  than  one  ex-Con- 
federate stoutly  declared  that  "  when  Lincoln 
was  murdered  the  South  lost  its  best  friend.') 
And  thousands  of  others  replied,  that  was  the 
truth  !  At  the  dedication  of  his  monument  in 
187-i  General  Grant  gave  utterance  again  to  this 
thought :  ''In  his  death  the  nation  lost  its  greatest 
hero ;  in  his  death  the  South  lost  its  most  just 
friend." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

A  nation's  sorrow. 

The  outburst  of  sorrow  and  indignation  over 
the  foul  murder  of  the  President  was  so  great  as 
to  lead  people  to  assume  that  Lincoln  was  at  all 
times  and  universally  a  favorite.  Those  who  know 
better  have  sometimes  thought  it  discreet  to  pre- 
serve silence.  But  the  greatness  of  his  work  can- 
not be  appreciated  at  its  full  value  unless  one 
bears  in  mind  that  he  had  not  the  full  measure  of 
sympathy  and  a  reasonable  help  from  those  on 
whom  he  had  a  right  to  depend.  During  the 
four  years  that  he  was  in  Washington  he  was  in- 
deed surrounded  by  a  band  of  devoted  followers. 
But  these  people  were  few  in  numbers.  Those 
who  sympathized  with  Fremont,  or  McClellan, 
or  Greeley,  plus  those  who  were  against  Lincoln 
on  general  principles,  constituted  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  who  ought  to  have  sustained  him. 
All  of  these  factions,  or  coteries,  however  much 
they  differed  among  themselves,  agreed  in  ham- 
pering Lincoln.  For  one  person  Lincoln  was  too 
400 


A  NATION'S  SORROW.  401 

radical,  for  another  too  conservative,  but  both 
joined  hands  to  annoy  him. 

Much  of  this  annoyance  was  thoughtless.  The 
critics  were  conscientious,  they  sincerely  believed 
that  their  plans  were  the  best.  They  failed  to 
grasp  the  fact  that  the  end  desired  might  possibly 
be  better  reached  by  other  methods  than  their 
own.  But  on  the  other  hand  much  of  this  annoy- 
ance was  malicious. 

When  the  shock  of  the  murder  came,  there  was 
a  great  revulsion  of  feeling.  The  thoughtless 
were  made  thoughtful,  the  malicious  were 
brought  to  their  senses.  Neither  class  had 
realized  into,  what  diabolical  hands  they  were 
playing  by  their  opposition  to  the  administration. 
It  was  the  greatness  of  the  sorrow  of  the  people 
— the  plain  people  whom  he  had  always  loved  and 
who  always  loved  him — that  sobered  the  conten- 
tions. Even  this  was  not  fully  accomplished  at 
once.  There  is  documentary  evidence  to  show 
that  the  extreme  radicals,  represented  by  such 
men  as  George  W.  Julian,  of  Indiana,  considered 
that  the  death  of  Lincoln  removed  an  obstruction 
to  the  proper  governing  of  the  country.  Julian's 
words  (in  part)  are  as  follows  : 

*'  I  spent  most  of  the  afternoon  [April  15,  1864, 

the  day  of  Lincoln's  death]  in  a  political  caucus 
26 


402  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

held  for  the  purpose  of  considering  the  necessity 
for  a  new  Cabinet  and  a  Hne  of  policy  less  con- 
ciliating than  that  of  Mr.  Lincoln  ;  and  while 
everybody  was  shocked  at  his  murder,  the  feel- 
ing was  nearly  universal  that  the  accession  of 
Johnson  to  the  presidency  would  prove  a  godsend 
to  the  country,  .  .  .  On  the  following  day,  in 
pursuance  of  a  previous  engagement,  the  Com- 
mittee on  the  Conduct  of  the  War  met  the  Presi- 
dent at  his  quarters  at  the  Treasury  Department. 
He  received  us  with  decided  cordiality,  and  Mr. 
Wade  said  to  him  :  '  Johnson,  we  have  faith  in 
you.  There  will  be  no  trouble  now  in  running 
the  government.'  .  .  .  While  we  were  rejoiced 
that  the  leading  conservatives  of  the  country 
were  not  in  Washington,  we  felt  that  the  pres- 
ence and  influence  of  the  committee,  of  which 
Johnson  had  been  a  member,  would  aid  the  Ad- 
ministration in  getting  on  the  right  track.  .  .  . 
The  general  feeling  was  .  .  .  that  he  would  act 
on  the  advice  of  General  Butler  by  inaugurating 
a  policy  of  his  own,  instead  of  administering  on 
the  political  estate  of  his  predecessor."  (Julian, 
*'  Political  Recollections,"  p.  255,  ff.). 

The  names  of  the  patriots  who  attended  this 
caucus  on  the  day  of  Lincoln's  death,  are  not 
given.     It  is  not  necessary  to  know  them.     It  is 


A  NATION'S  SOEROW.  403 

not  probable  that  there  were  many  exhibitions  of 
this  spirit  after  the  death  of  the  President.  This 
one,  which  is  here  recorded  in  the  words  of  tiie 
confession  of  one  of  the  chief  actors,  is  an  excep- 
tion. But  before  the  death  of  Lincoln,  this  spirit 
of  fault-finding,  obstruction,  hostility,  was  not 
uncommon  and  was  painfully  aggressive.  After 
his  death  there  was  a  revulsion  of  feeling.  Many 
who  had  failed  to  give  the  cheer,  sympathy,  and 
encouragement  which  they  might  have  given  in 
life,  shed  bitter  and  unavailing  tears  over  his 
death. 

On  the  other,  the  Confederate,  side,  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  during  the  ten  days  the  murderer  was 
in  hiding,  no  southern  sympathizer  whom  he  met 
wished  to  arrest  him  or  have  him  arrested, 
although  a  large  reward  had  been  offered  for  his 
apprehension.  As  to  the  head  of  the  Confederacy, 
Jeff  Davis,  there  is  no  reasonable  doubt  that  he 
approved  the  act  and  motive  of  Booth,  whether 
he  had  given  him  a  definite  commission  or  not. 
Davis  tried  to  defend  himself  by  saying  that  he 
had  greater  objection  to  Johnson  than  to  Lin- 
coln, But  since  the  conspiracy  included  the 
murder  of  both  Lincoln  and  Johnson,  as  well  as 
others,  this  defense  is  very  lame.  It  was  cer- 
tainly more  than  a  coincidence  that  Booth — a 


404  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

poor  man  who  had  plenty  of  ready  money — and 
Jacob  Thompson,  the  Confederate  agent  in 
Canada,  had  dealings  with  the  same  bank  in 
Montreal.  Davis  himself  said,  "  For  an  enemy 
so  relentless,  in  the  war  for  our  subjugation,  I 
could  not  be  expected  to  mourn." 

To  put  it  in  the  mildest  form,  neither  Jeff  Davis 
in  the  South,  nor  the  extreme  radicals  in  the 
North,  were  sorry  that  Lincoln  was  out  of  the 
way.  Extremes  had  met  in  the  feeling  of  relief 
that  the  late  President  was  now  out  of  the  way. 
This  brings  to  mind  a  statement  in  an  ancient 
book  which  records  that  "  Herod  and  Pilate  be- 
came friends  with  each  other  that  very  day  ;  for 
before  they  were  at  enmity  between  themselves." 

On  Friday  evening  there  had  been  general 
rejoicing  throughout  the  loyal  North.  On  Sat- 
urday morning  there  rose  to  heaven  a  great  cry 
of  distress, — such  a  cry  as  has  hardly  been  paral- 
leled since  the  destruction  of  the  first-born  in 
Egypt.  For  the  telegraph — invented  since  Lin- 
coln had  come  into  manhood — had  carried  the 
heavy  news  to  every  city  and  commercial  center 
in  the  North.  The  shock  plunged  the  whole 
community,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  from  the 
heights  of  exultation  into  the  abyss  of  grief. 

There  was  no  business  transacted   that  day. 


A  NATION'S  SORROW.  405 

The  whole  nation  was  given  up  to  grief.  Offices, 
stores,  exchanges  were  deserted.  Men  gathered 
in  knots  and  conversed  in  low  tones.  By  twelve 
o'clock  noon  there  was  scarcely  a  public  building, 
store,  or  residence  in  any  northern  city  that  was 
not  draped  in  mourning.  The  poor  also  procured 
bits  of  black  crepe,  or  some  substitute  for  it, 
and  tied  them  to  their  door-knobs.  The  plain 
people  were  orphaned.  "  Father  Abraham  "  was 
dead. 

Here  and  there  some  southern  sympathizer 
ventured  to  express  exultation, — a  very  rash 
thing  to  do.  Forbearance  had  ceased  to  be  a 
virtue,  and  in  nearly  every  such  case  the  crowd 
organized  a  lynching  bee  in  the  fraction  of  a 
minute,  and  the  offender  was  thankful  to  escape 
alive. 

Though  this  wave  of  sorrow  swept  over  the  land 
from  ocean  to  ocean,  it  was  necessarily  more 
manifest  in  Washington  than  elsewhere.  There 
the  crime  had  been  committed.  There  the 
President's  figure  was  a  familiar  sight  and  his 
voice  was  a  familiar  sound.  There  the  tragedy 
was  nearer  at  hand  and  more  vivid.  In  the  middle 
of  the  morning  a  squad  of  soldiers  bore  the  lifeless 
body  to  the  White  House.  It  lay  there  in  state 
until  the  day  of  the  funeral,  Wednesday.     It  is 


406  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

safe  to  say  that  on  the  intervening  Sunday  there 
was  hardly  a  pulpit  in  the  North,  from  which, 
by  sermon  and  prayer,  were  not  expressed  the 
love  of  the  chief.  On  Wednesday,  the  day  of 
the  funeral  in  Washington,  all  the  churches  in 
the  land  were  invited  to  join  in  solemnizing  the 
occasion. 

The  funeral  service  was  held  in  the  East  room 
of  the  White  House,  conducted  by  the  President's 
pastor  Dr.  Gurley,  and  his  eloquent  friend,  Bishop 
Simpson  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 
Mrs.  Lincoln,  prostrated  by  the  shock,  was  unable 
to  be  present,  and  little  Tad  would  not  come. 
Only  Robert,  a  recent  graduate  of  Harvard  and 
at  the  time  a  member  of  Grant's  staff,  was  there 
to  represent  the  family. 

After  the  service,  which  was  brief  and  simple, 
the  body  was  borne  with  suitable  pomp  and 
magnificence,  the  procession  fittingly  headed  by 
negro  troops,  to  the  Capitol,  where  it  was  placed 
in  the  rotunda  until  the  evening  of  the  next  day. 
There,  as  at  the  White  House,  innumerable  crowds 
passed  to  look  upon  that  grave,  sad,  kindly  face. 
The  negroes  came  in  great  numbers,  sobbing  out 
their  grief  over  the  death  of  their  Emancipator. 
The  soldiers,  too,  who  remembered  so  well  his 
oft  repeated  "God  bless  you,  boys!"  were  not 


A  NATION'S  SORROW.  407 

ashamed  of  their  grief.  There  were  also  neigh- 
bors, friends,  and  the  general  public. 

It  was  arranged  that  the  cortege  should  return 
to  Springfield  over  as  nearly  as  possible  the  same 
route  as  that  taken  by  the  President  in  1861, — 
Baltimore,  Harrisburg,  Philadelphia,  New  York, 
Albany,  Cleveland,  Columbus,  Indianapolis,  and 
Chicago.  In  the  party  there  were  three  of  those 
■who  had  escorted  him  to  Washington, — David 
Davis,  W.  H.  Lamon,  and  General  Hunter. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  Friday,  April  21st,  the  fu- 
neral train  left  Washington.  It  is  hardly  too 
much  to  say  that  it  was  a  funeral  procession  two 
thousand  miles  in  length.  All  along  the  route 
people  turned  out,  not  daunted  by  darkness  and 
rain — for  it  rained  much  of  the  time — and  stood 
with  streaming  eyes  to  watch  the  train  go  by. 
At  the  larger  cities  named,  the  procession  paused 
and  the  body  lay  for  some  hours  in  state  while 
the  people  came  in  crowds  so  great  that  it  seemed 
as  if  tlie  whole  community  had  turned  out.  At 
Columbus  and  Indianapolis  those  in  charge  said 
that  it  seemed  as  if  the  entire  population  of  the 
state  came  to  do  him  honor.  The  present  writer 
has  never  witnessed  another  sight  so  imposing. 

Naturall}'  the  ceremonies  were  most  elaborate 
in  New  York  City.     But  at  Chicago  the  grief 


408  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

was  most  unrestrained  and  touching.  He  was 
there  among  his  neighbors  and  friends.  It  was 
the  state  of  Illinois  that  had  given  him  to  the 
nation  and  the  world.  They  had  the  claim  of 
fellow-citizenship,  he  was  one  of  them.  As  a 
citizen  of  the  state  of  which  Chicago  was  the 
leading  city,  he  had  passed  all  his  public  life.  The 
neighboring  states  sent  thousands  of  citizens,  for 
he  was  a  western  man  like  themselves,  and  for 
the  forty-eight  hours  that  he  lay  in  state  a  con- 
tinuous stream  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men 
passed  by  sorrowing. 

In  all  these  cities  not  a  few  mottoes  were  dis- 
played. Most  of  these  were  from  his  own  writ- 
ings, such  as,  "With  malice  toward  none,  with 
charity  for  all ;  "  and,  "  We  here  highly  resolve 
that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain." 
Two  others  are  firmly  fixed  in  the  mind  of  the 
writer  which  are  here  given  as  a  sample  of  all. 
The  first  is  from  the  Bible  :  "He  being  dead  yet 
speaketh."     The  second  is  from  Shakespeare  : 

"  His  life  was  gentle,  and  the  elements 
So  mix'd  in  him,  that  Nature  might  stand  up 
And  say  to  all  the  world.  This  was  a  man  I " 

His  final  resting-place  was  Springfield.  Here, 
and  in  all  the  neighboring  country,  he  was  known 
to  every  one.     He  had  always  a  kind  word  for 


A  NATION'S  SORROW.  409 

every  one,  and  now  all  this  came  back  in  memory. 
His  goodness  had  not  been  forgotten.  Those 
whom  he  had  befriended  had  delighted  to  tell  of 
it.  They  therefore  came  to  do  honor  not  merely 
to  the  great  statesman,  but  to  the  beloved  friend, 
the  warm-hearted  neighbor.  Many  could  remem- 
ber his  grave  face  as  he  stood  on  the  platform  of 
the  car  that  rainy  morning  in  February,  1861, 
and  said,  '^  I  now  leave,  not  knowing  when  or 
whether  ever  I  shall  return."  Between  the  two 
days,  what  a  large  and  noble  life  had  been  lived. 

The  city  had  made  elaborate  preparations  for 
the  final  services.  The  funeral  in  Springfield  was 
on  May  4th.  The  order  of  service  included  a 
dirge,  a  prayer,  the  reading  of  his  second  in- 
augural address,  and  an  oration.  The  latter  was 
by  Bishop  Simpson  and  was  worthy  of  the  noble 
and  eloquent  orator.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  the 
rain  which  had  been  falling  during  the  long  jour- 
ney was  over,  and  May  sunshine  filled  earth  and 
sky.  Near  the  close  of  the  day  the  body  of  the 
President,  together  with  that  of  his  little  son 
Willie,  which  also  had  been  brought  from  Wash- 
ington, was  laid  in  a  vault  in  Oak  Ridge  ceme- 
tery. 

A  movement  was  at  once  set  on  foot  to  erect  a 
suitable  monument.     For  this  purpose  a  few  large 


410 


LIFE  OF  ABRAHA3I  LINCOLN. 


sums  of  money  were  subscribed,  but  most  of  it 
came  in  small  sums  from  the  plain  people.  The 
negro  troops  contributed  $8,000.  The  sum  of 
$180,000  in  all  was  raised  and  a  noble  structure 


Tomb  of  Abraham  Lincoln  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 

was  erected.  It  was  dedicated  in  1874.  The 
orator  of  the  day  was  his  old-time  friend,  Gov- 
ernor, afterwards  General,  Oglesby.  "Warm  words 
of  appreciation  were  added  by  Generals  Grant  and 
Sherman.  The  former,  who  served  under  him  as 
general  and  for  two  terms  succeeded  him  in 
office,  among  other  things  said,  "  To  know  him 
personally  was  to  love  and  respect  him  for  his 
great  qualities  of  heart  and  head,  and  for  his 
patience  and  patriotism." 


A  NATION'S  SORROW.  411 

Lincoln  was  never  a  resident  of  Chicago,  but 
he  was  always  a  favorite  in  that  city,  even  though 
it  was  the  home  of  his  great  rival,  Judge  Doug- 
las. It  was  there  he  was  nominated  in  1860,  and 
the  city  always  felt  as  if  it  had  a  personal  claim 
on  him.  It  has  done  itself  honor  by  the  construc- 
tion of  Lincoln  Park.  The  chief  ornament  is  a 
bronze  statue  of  heroic  size,  by  the  sculptor  St. 
Gaudens.  The  statue  represents  Lincoln  in  the 
attitude  of  speaking,  and  the  legend,  which  is 
lettered  at  the  base,  is  the  sublime  paragraph 
that  concludes  the  second  inaugural.  The  beauty 
of  the  park — lawn,  flowers,  shrubbery,  trees — 
and  the  majesty  of  the  statue,  constitute  a  noble 
memorial  of  the  man  whose  name  they  per- 
petuate. 


CHAPTER  XLu 

THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN. 

"  God's  plan 
And  measure  of  a  stalwart  man." — Lowell. 

Lincoln's  physical  characteristics  have  been 
sufficiently  described, — his  unmanageable  height 
and  his  giant  strength.  His  mental  traits  have 
been  treated  in  chapter  xxxv.  We  now  consider 
his  moral  qualities,  that  is  to  say  his  character. 

Conspicuous  was  his   honesty.     The  sobriquet 

''Honest   Abe    Lincoln,"    which    his   neighbors 

fastened   on   him   in  his  youth  was  never  lost, 

shaken   off,  or  outgrown.     This  was  something 

more  than  the  exactness  of  commercial  honesty 

which  forbade  him  to  touch  a  penny  of  the  funds 

that  remained  over  from  the  extinct  post-office  of 

New  Salem,    though   the   government   was   for 

years  negligent  in  the  matter  of  settling  up.     In 

youth  he  always  insisted  on  fairness  in  sports  so 

that  he  came  to  be  the  standing  umpire  of  the 

neighborhood.     It  came  out  also  in  his  practise 
413 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN,  413 

of  the  law,  when  he  would  not  lend  his  influence 
to  further  scoundrel  schemes,  nor  would  he  con- 
sent to  take  an  unfair  advantage  of  an  opponent. 
But  the  glory  of  his  honesty  appeared  in  his  ad- 
ministration. It  is  a  wonderful  fact  that  there 
has  never  been  any  suspicion,  even  among  his 
enemies,  that  he  used  the  high  powers  of  his 
office  for  gain,  or  for  the  furtherance  of  his 
political  ambition.  When  contracts,  to  the 
amount  of  many  millions  of  dollars,  were  being 
constantly  given  out  for  a  period  of  four  years, 
there  was  never  a  thought  that  a  dishonest  dollar 
would  find  its  way,  either  directly  or  indirectly, 
into  the  hands  of  the  President,  or  with  his  con- 
sent into  the  hands  of  his  friends.  When  he  was 
a  candidate  for  reelection  he  was  fully  aware  that 
some  officials  of  high  station  were  using  their 
prerogatives  for  the  purpose  of  injuring  him.  It 
was  in  his  power  to  dismiss  these  in  disgrace, — 
and  they  deserved  it.  This  he  refused  to  do.  So 
long  as  they  did  well  their  official  duties,  he  over- 
looked their  injustice  to  him.  No  President  has 
surpassed  him  in  the  cleanness  of  his  record,  and 
only  Washington  has  equaled  him. 

His  tenderness  of  heart  over- rode  almost  every- 
thing. In  childhood  he  would  not  permit  boys  to 
put  live  coals  on  the  back  of  a  turtle.     In  youth  he 


414  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

stayed  out  all  night  with  a  drunkard  to  prevent  his 
freezing  to  death,  a  fate  which  his  folly  had  in- 
vited. In  young  manhood  with  the  utmost  gen- 
tleness he  restored  to  their  nest  some  bird  lings 
that  had  been  beaten  out  by  the  storm.  When  a 
lawyer  on  the  circuit,  he  dismounted  from  his 
horse  and  rescued  a  pig  that  was  stuck  in  the  mud. 
This  spoiled  a  suit  of  clothes,  because  he  had  to 
lift  the  pig  in  his  arms.  His  explanation  was 
that  he  could  not  bear  to  think  of  that  animal  in 
suffering,  and  so  he  did  it  simply  for  his  own 
peace  of  mind. 

But  when  he  became  President,  his  tenderness 
of  heart  was  as  beautiful  as  the  glow  of  the  sun- 
set. To  him  the  boys  in  blue  were  as  sons.  On 
him  as  on  no  one  else  the  burden  of  the  nation's 
troubles  rested.  It  may  with  reverence  be  said 
that  he  "bore  our  sorrows,  he  carried  our  grief." 
Not  only  was  this  true  in  general,  but  in  specific 
cases  his  actions  showed  it.  When  the  soldiers 
were  under  sentence  from  court-martial — many 
of  them  mere  boys — the  sentence  came  to  Lincoln 
for  approval.  If  he  could  find  any  excuse  what- 
ever for  pardon  he  would  grant  it.  His  tendency 
to  pardon,  his  leaning  towards  the  side  of  mercy, 
became  proverbial  and  greatly  annoyed  some  of 
the  generals  who  feared  military  discipline  would 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.  415 

be  destroyed.  But  he  would  not  turn  a  deaf  ear 
to  the  plea  of  mercy,  and  he  could  not  see  in  it 
any  permanent  danger  to  the  republic.  One  or 
two  examples  will  stand  fairly  for  a  largo  num- 
ber. When  a  boy  was  sentenced  to  death  for  de- 
sertion, he  said  : 

"  Must  I  shoot  a  simple-minded  soldier  boy  who 
deserts,  and  not  touch  a  hair  of  the  wily  agitator 
who  induces  him  to  desert  ?  I  think  that  in  such 
a  case,  to  silence  the  agitator  and  save  the  boy,  is 
not  only  constitutional,  but  withal  a  great  mercy." 

Early  in  the  war  he  pardoned  a  boy  who  was 
sentenced  to  be  shot  for  sleeping  at  his  post  as 
sentinel.  By  way  of  explanation  the  President 
said  :  "  I  could  not  think  of  going  into  eternity 
with  the  blood  of  that  poor  young  man  on  my 
skirts.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  boy, 
raised  on  a  farm,  probably  in  the  habit  of  going 
to  bed  at  dark,  should,  when  required  to  watch, 
fall  asleep  ;  and  I  cannot  consent  to  shoot  him  for 
such  an  act."  The  sequel  is  romantic.  The  dead 
body  of  this  boy  was  found  among  the  slain  on 
':he  field  of  the  battle  of  Fredericksburg.  Next 
'.lis  heart  was  a  photograph  of  the  President  on 
which  he  had  written  "God  bless  President 
Abraham  Lincoln  1 " 

On  the  21st  day  of  November,  1864,  he  wrote 


416  LIFE  OF  ABEAHAM  LINCOLN. 

to  Mrs.  Bixby,   of  Boston,  Mass.,  the  following 
letter  which  needs  no  comment  or  explanation  : 

"  Dear  Madam  :  I  have  been  shown,  in  the  files 
of  the  War  Department,  a  statement  of  the  Ad- 
jutant-General of  Massachusetts,  that  you  are  the 
mother  of  five  sons  who  have  died  gloriously  on 
the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak  and  fruitless 
must  be  any  words  of  mine  which  should  attempt 
to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  over- 
whelming. But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering 
to  you  the  consolation  that  may  be  found  in  the 
thanks  of  the  Eepublic  they  died  to  save.  I  pray 
that  our  Heavenly  Father  may  assuage  the  an- 
guish of  your  bereavement,  and  leave  you  only 
the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and 
the  solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid 
so  costly  a  sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 
"Yours,  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

"Abraham  Lincoln." 

A  different  side  of  his  character  is  shown  in 
the  following  incident.  A  slave-trader  had  been 
condemned,  in  Newburyport,  Mass.,  to  a  fine  of 
one  thousand  dollars  and  imprisonment  for  five 
years.  He  served  out  his  term  of  imprison- 
ment, but  he  could  not  pay  his  fine,  because  he 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.  4^7 

had  no  money  and  no  way  of  getting  any.  Con- 
sequently he  was  still  held  for  the  fine  which  he 
was  unable  to  pay.  Some  people  of  influence 
interested  themselves  in  the  case,  and  a  congress- 
man from  eastern  Massachusetts,  who  stood  very 
near  to  the  President,  laid  the  facts  before  him 
with  the  request  for  a  pardon.  He  was  indeed 
much  moved  by  the  appeal,  but  he  gave  his 
decision  in  substantially  the  following  words  : 
"  My  friend,  this  appeal  is  very  touching  to 
my  feelings,  and  no  one  knows  my  weakness 
better  than  you.  I  am,  if  possible  to  be,  too 
easily  moved  by  appeals  for  mercy  ;  and  I  must 
say  that  if  this  man  had  been  guilty  of  the  foulest 
murder  that  the  arm  of  man  could  perpetrate,  I 
might  forgive  him  on  such  an  appeal.  But  the 
man  who  could  go  to  Africa,  and  rob  her  of  her 
children,  and  then  sell  them  into  interminable 
bondage,  with  no  other  motive  than  that  which 
is  furnished  by  dollars  and  cents,  is  so  much 
worse  than  the  most  depraved  murderer  that  he 
can  never  receive  pardon  at  my  hand.  No,  sir  ; 
he  may  stay  in  jail  forever  before  he  shall  have 
liberty  by  any  act  of  mine." 

It   was  his  magnanimity  that  constructed  his 
cabinet.     Hardly  another  man  in  the  world  would 

have  failed  to  dismiss  summarily  both  Seward 
27 


418  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

and  Chase.  But,  thanks  to  his  magnanimous 
forbearance,  Seward  became  not  only  useful  to 
the  country,  but  devotedly  loyal  to  his  chief. 
After  Chase's  voluntary  retirement  Lincoln  ap- 
pointed him  Chief  Justice.  To  his  credit  be  it 
said  that  he  adorned  the  judiciary,  but  he  never 
did  appreciate  the  man  who  saved  him  from 
oblivion,  not  to  say  disgrace.  Up  to  the  year 
1862,  his  only  personal  knowledge  of  Stanton  was 
such  as  to  rouse  only  memories  of  indignation, 
but  when  he  believed  that  Stanton  would  make 
a  good  Secretary  of  War  he  did  not  hesitate  to 
appoint  him.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  this  appoint- 
ment gave  Stanton  the  greatest  surprise  of  his 

life. 

He  was  always  ready  to  set  aside  his  preference, 
or  to  do  the  expedient  thing  when  no  moral 
principle  was  involved.  When  such  a  principle 
was  involved  he  was  ready  to  stand  alone  against 
the  world.  He  was  no  coward.  In  early  youth 
he  championed  the  cause  of  temperance  in  a 
community  where  the  use  of  liquors  was  almost 
universal.  In  the  Illinois  legislature  and  in 
congress  he  expressed  his  repugnance  to  the  whole 
institution  of  slavery,  though  this  expression 
could  do  him  no  possible  good,  while  it  might  do 
him  harm.    When  he  was  a  lawyer,   he  was 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.  419 

almost  the  only  lawyer  of  ability  who  did  not 
dread  the  odium  sure  to  attach  to  those  who 
befriended  negroes. 

When  in  the  White  House,  he  stood  out  almost 
alone  against  the  clamors  of  his  constituents  and 
directed  the  release  of  Mason  and  Slidell. 

Personally  he  was  a  clean  man.  The  masculine 
vices  were  abhorrent  to  him.  He  was  not  profane. 
He  was  not  vulgar.  He  was  as  far  removed  from 
suspicion  as  Csesar  could  have  demanded  of  his 
wife.  He  was  not  given  to  drink.  When  a 
young  man  he  could  not  be  tricked  into  swallowing 
whisky.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  a  barrel  of 
whisky  was  sent  him  from  some  cellar  in  Rich- 
mond, as  a  souvenir  of  the  fall  of  the  city,  but  he 
declined  to  receive  it.  Wine  was  served  at  the 
table  of  the  White  House  in  deference  to  foreign 
guests  who  did  not  know,  and  could  not  be  taught, 
how  to  dine  without  it.  As  a  matter  of  courtesy 
he  went  through  the  form  of  touching  the  glass 
to  his  lips,  but  he  never  drank.  How  widely  his 
life  was  separated  from  many  of  his  associates  1 
The  atmosphere  of  the  White  House  has  been 
sweeter  and  purer  ever  since  he  occupied  it,  and 
this  is  largely  due  to  the  influence  of  his  incor- 
ruptible purity. 

In  the  matter  of  religion,  he  did  not  wear  his 


420  LIFE  OF  ABEAHAM  LINCOLN. 

heart  on  his  sleeve,  and  some  of  his  friends  have 
refused  to  believe  that  he  was  religious.  It  is 
true  that  he  was  not  a  church  member,  but  there 
were  special  reasons  for  this.  The  church  with 
which  he  was  naturally  affiliated  was  the  Pres- 
byterian. The  most  eloquent  preacher  of  that 
denomination  was  the  Reverend  Dr.  Palmer  of 
New  Orleans,  who  was  an  aggressive  champion 
of  slavery  as  a  divine  institution.  His  teachings 
were  feebly  echoed  in  thousands  of  other  pulpits. 
Now  Lincoln  abhorred  slavery.  He  incorporated 
human  freedom  into  his  religion.  The  one  point 
on  which  he  insisted  all  his  life  was  that  "  slavery 
is  wrong  !  "  It  may  therefore  be  seen  that  the 
church  did  not  give  him  a  cordial  invitation.  If 
this  needs  any  proof,  that  proof  is  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  pastors  in  Springfield  voted  almost 
unanimously  against  him.  Even  Peter  Cart- 
wright  had  denounced  him  as  an  atheist. 

The  marvel  is  that  this  did  not  embitter  him 
against  the  church.  But  all  his  life  long  he  kept 
up  such  bonds  of  sympathy  with  the  church  as 
were  possible.  He  bore  with  the  faults  of  the 
church  and  of  ministers  with  that  patience  which 
made  his  whole  character  so  remarkably  genuine. 
He  was  a  constant  attendant  at  the  services,  he 
was  favorable  to  all  the  legitimate  work  of  the 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.  421 

church,  and  he  was  exceptionally  kind  to  min- 
isters, though  they  were  often  a  sore  trial  to  him. 

In  childhood  he  would  not  rest  until  a  clergy- 
man had  traveled  many  miles  through  the  forests 
to  preach  a  memorial  discourse  over  the  grave  of 
his  mother.  When  his  father  was  ill  he  wrote  a 
letter  of  religious  consolation  intended  for  him  : 
"  Tell  him  to  remember  to  call  upon  and  confide 
in  our  great  and  good  and  merciful  Maker,  who 
will  not  turn  away  from  him  in  any  extremity. 
He  notes  the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  and  numbers  the 
hairs  of  our  heads,  and  He  will  not  forget  the 
dying  man  who  puts  his  trust  in  Him." 

Hugh  McCulloch,  in  a  personal  letter  to  the 
author,  January  28,  1889,  wrote  :  "  He  was,  as 
far  as  I  could  judge,  a  pure  man,  and  '  in  spirit 
and  temper'  a  Christian."  His  pastor.  Dr.  Gur- 
ley,  regarded  him  as  a  Christian.  Other  clergy- 
men who  were  acquainted  with  him  did  so. 

J.  G.  Holland  has  preserved  the  following 
incident : 

Colonel  Loomis,  who  was  commandant  of  Fort 
Columbus,  Governor's  Island,  in  New  York  Har- 
bor, reached  the  age  at  which  by  law  he  should 
be  put  on  the  retired  list.  He  was  a  very  relig- 
ious man,  and  his  influence  was  so  marked  that 
the  chaplain  and  some  others,  determined  to  ap- 


422  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

peal  to  the  President  to  have  him  continued  at 
the  post.  The  Eeverend  Dr.  Duryea  of  Brooklyn 
was  sent  to  Washington  to  prefer  the  request. 
"What  does  the  clergyman  know  of  military 
matters  ?"  inquired  the  President.  "Nothing," 
was  the  reply.  "It  is  desired  to  retain  Colonel 
Loomis  solely  for  the  sake  of  his  Christian  influ- 
ence. He  sustains  religious  exercises  at  the  fort, 
leads  a  prayer-meeting,  and  teaches  a  Bible  class 
in  the  Sunday  School."  "That  is  the  highest 
possible  recommendation,"  replied  the  President. 
He  approved  the  request,  and  the  Christian  officer 
Was  retained  there  until  imperative  military  duty 
called  him  elsewhere. 

The  religious  strain  that  runs  through  his 
papers  and  addresses  cannot  be  overlooked.  But 
there  are  two  that  deserve  special  mention.  The 
first  is  the  "  Sunday  Order,"  which  is  as  follows  : 

"The  importance  for  man  and  beast  of  the 
prescribed  weekly  rest,  the  sacred  rights  of  Chris- 
tian soldiers  and  sailors,  a  becoming  deference  to 
the  best  sentiment  of  a  Christian  people,  and  a 
due  regard  for  the  Divine  will,  demand  that  Sun- 
day labor  in  the  army  and  navy  be  reduced  to 
the  measure  of  strict  necessity.  The  discipline 
and  character  of  the  national  forces  should  not 
suffer,  nor  the  cause  they  defend  be  imperiled, 


THE  MEASURE  OF  A  MAN.  423 

by  the  profanation  of  the  day  or  the  name  of  the 
Most  High." 

The  other  is  his  thanksgiving  proclamation. 
He  it  was  who  nationalized  this  festival  which 
had  previously  been  local  and  irregular.  His 
successors  in  office  have  done  well  to  follow  his 
example  in  the  matter.  Every  November,  when 
the  entire  population  turns  from  daily  toil  to  an 
hour  of  thanksgiving,  they  should  not  forget  that 
they  are  thereby  acting  on  his  recommendation, 
and  in  doing  this  they  are  strengthening  the  best 
possible  monument  to  the  grand,  good  man  whom 
the  Most  High  mercifully  gave  to  this  country  in 
the  time  of  her  direst  need. 

**  He  was  a  man ;  take  him  for  all  in  all 
I  shall  not  look  upon  hisiik.e  again." 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

TESTIMONIES. 

We  have  now  followed  the  career  of  Lincoln 
throughout.  It  is  fitting  that  this  book  should 
conclude  with  a  record  of  what  some  observant 
men  have  said  about  him.  Accordingly  this,  the 
last,  chapter  is  willingly  given  up  to  these  testi- 
monies. Of  course  such  a  list  could  easily  be 
extended  indefinitely,  but  the  quotations  here 
given  are  deemed  sufficient  for  their  purpose. 

H.  W.  Beecher : 

Who  shall  recount  our  martyr's  sufferings  for 
this  people?  Since  the  November  of  1860  his 
horizon  has  been  black  with  storms.  By  day  and 
by  night,  he  trod  a  way  of  danger  and  darkness. 
On  his  shoulders  rested  a  government  dearer  to 
him  than  his  own  life.  At  its  integrity  millions 
of  men  were  striking  home.  Upon  this  govern- 
ment foreign  eyes  lowered.     It  stood  like  a  lone 

island  in  a  sea  full  of  storms  ;  and  every  tide  and 
424 


TESTIMONIES.  425 

wave  seemed  eager  to  devour  it.  Upon  thousands 
of  hearts  great  sorrows  and  anxieties  have  rested, 
but  not  on  one  such,  and  in  such  measure,  as  upon 
that  simple,  truthful,  noble  soul,  our  faithful  and 
sainted  Lincoln.  Never  rising  to  the  enthusiasm 
of  more  impassioned  natures  in  hours  of  hope, 
and  never  sinking  with  the  mercurial  in  hours  of 
defeat  to  the  depths  of  despondency,  he  held  on 
with  immovable  patience  and  fortitude,  putting 
caution  against  hope,  that  it  might  not  be  pre- 
mature, and  hope  against  caution,  that  it  might 
not  yield  to  dread  and  danger.  He  wrestled 
ceaselessly  through  four  black  and  dreadful  pur- 
gatorial years,  wherein  God  was  cleansing  the 
sin  of  his  people  as  by  fire.  .  .  . 

Then  the  wail  of  a  nation  proclaimed  that  he 
had  gone  from  among  us.  Not  thine  the  sorrow, 
but  ours,  sainted  soul  !  Thou  hast  indeed  entered 
the  promised  land,  while  we  are  yet  on  the  march. 
To  us  remains  the  rocking  of  the  deep,  the  storm 
upon  the  land,  days  of  duty  and  nights  of  watch- 
ing ;  but  thou  art  sphered  high  above  all  darkness 
and  fear,  beyond  all  sorrow  and  weariness.  Rest, 
O  weary  heart  !  Rejoice  exceedingly,  thou  that 
hast  enough  suffered  !  Thou  hast  beheld  Him 
who  invisibly  led  thee  in  this  great  wilderness. 
Thou  standest  among  the  elect.     Around  thee  are 


426  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

the  royal  men  that  have  ennobled  human  life  in 
every  age.  Kingly  art  thou,  with  glory  on  thy 
brow  as  a  diadem.  And  joy  is  upon  thee  forever- 
more.  Over  all  this  land,  over  all  this  little  cloud 
of  years,  that  now  from  thine  infinite  horizon 
moves  back  as  a  speck,  thou  art  lifted  up  as  high 
as  the  star  is  above  the  clouds  that  hide  us,  but 
never  reach  it.  In  the  goodly  company  of  Mount 
Zion  thou  shalt  find  that  rest  which  thou  hast 
sorrowing  sought  in  vain  ;  and  thy  name,  an 
everlasting  name  in  heaven,  shall  flourish  in 
fragrance  and  beauty  as  long  as  men  shall  last 
upon  the  earth,  or  hearts  remain,  to  revere  truth, 
fidelity,  and  goodness. 

.  .  .  Four  years  ago,  0  Illinois,  we  took  from 
your  midst  an  untried  man,  and  from  among  the 
people.  We  return  him  to  you  a  mighty  con- 
queror. Not  thine  any  more  but  the  Nation's  ; 
not  ours,  but  the  world's.  Give  him  place,  0  ye 
prairies  !  In  the  midst  of  this  great  continent  his 
dust  shall  rest,  a  sacred  treasure  to  myriads  who 
shall  pilgrim  to  that  shrine  to  kindle  anew  their 
zeal  and  patriotism.  Ye  winds  that  move  over 
the  mighty  places  of  the  West,  chant  his  requiem  I 
Ye  people,  behold  a  m'dvtjT  whose  blood,  as  so 
many  articulate  words,  pleads  for  fidelity,  for 
law,  for  liberty  I 


TESTIMONIES.  427 

Koah  Brooks  : 

He  became  the  type,  flower,  and  representative 
of  all  that  is  worthily  American  ;  in  him  the 
commonest  of  human  traits  were  blended  with  an 
all-embracing  charity  and  the  highest  human 
wisdom  ;  with  single  devotion  to  the  right  he 
lived  unselfishly,  void  of  selfish  personal  ambition, 
and,  dying  tragically,  left  a  name  to  be  remem- 
bered with  love  and  honor  as  one  of  the  best  and 
greatest  of  mankind. 

W.  C.  Bryant  : 

Oh,  slow  to  smite  and  swift  to  spare. 

Gentle  and  merciful  and  just ! 
Who,  in  the  fear  of  God,  didst  bear 

Tlie  sword  of  power,  a  nation's  trust  f 

In  sorrow  by  thy  bier  we  stand, 

Amid  the  awe  that  hushes  all, 
And  speak  the  anguish  of  a  land 

That  shook  with  horror  at  thy  fall. 

Thy  task  is  done  ;  the  bond  are  free  : 
We  bear  thee  to  an  honored  grave. 

Whose  proudest  monument  shall  be 
The  broken  fetters  of  the  slave. 

Pure  was  thy  life  ;  its  bloody  close 
Hath  placed  thee  with  the  sons  of  light, 

Among  the  noble  host  of  those 
Who  perished  in  the  cause  of  Right. 

J.  H.  Choate  : 
A  rare  and  striking  illustration  o-f  the  sound 


428  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

mind  in  the  sound  body.  He  rose  to  every  oc- 
casion. He  led  public  opinion.  He  knew  the 
heart  and  conscience  of  the  people.  Not  only 
was  there  this  steady  growth  of  intellect,  but 
the  infinite  delicacy  of  his  nature  and  capacity 
for  refinement  developed  also,  as  exhibited  in 
the  purity  and  perfection  of  his  language  and 
style  of  speech. 

R.  W.  Emerson  : 

He  had  a  face  and  manner  which  disarmed 
suspicion,  which  inspired  confidence,  which  con- 
firmed good  will.  He  was  a  man  without  vices. 
He  had  a  strong  sense  of  duty.  .  .  .  He  had 
what  the  farmers  call  a  long  head.  .  .  .  He  was 
a  great  worker  ;  he  had  a  prodigious  faculty  of 
performance  ;  worked  easily.  .  .  .  He  had  a  vast 
good  nature  which  made  him  accessible  to  all. 
.  .  .  Fair-minded  .  .  .  affable  .  .  .  this  wise 
man. 

What  an  occasion  was  the  whirlwind  of  the 
war  !  Here  was  the  place  for  no  holiday  magis- 
trate, no  fair-weather  sailor  ;  the  new  pilot  was 
hurled  to  the  helm  in  a  tornado.  In  four  years, — 
four  years  of  battle-days, — his  endurance,  his  fer- 
tility of  resources,  his  magnanimity,  were  sorely 
tried  and  never  found  wanting.     There,  by  his 


TESTIMONIES.  429 

courage,  his  justice,  his  even  temper,  his  fertile 
counsel,  his  humanity,  he  stood  a  heroic  figure 
in  the  center  of  a  heroic  epoch.  He  is  the  true 
history  of  the  American  people  in  his  time.  Step 
by  step  he  walked  before  them  ;  slow  with  their 
slowness,  quickening  his  march  by  theirs,  the 
true  representative  of  this  continent ;  an  entirely 
public  man  ;  father  of  his  country,  the  pulse  of 
twenty  millions  throbbing  in  his  heart,  the 
thought  of  their  minds  articulated  by  his  tongue. 

J.  G.  Holland  : 

Conscience,  and  not  expediency,  not  temporary 
advantage,  not  popular  applause,  not  the  love  of 
power,  was  the  ruling  and  guiding  motive  of  his 
life.  He  was  patient  with  his  enemies,  and 
equally  patient  with  equally  unreasonable  friends. 
No  hasty  act  of  his  administration  can  be  traced 
to  his  impatience.  He  had  a  tender,  brotherly 
regard  for  every  human  being  ;  and  the  thought 
of  oppression  was  torment  to  him.  ...  A  states- 
man without  a  statesman's  craftiness,  a  politi- 
cian without  a  politician's  meannesses,  a  great 
man  without  a  great  man's  vices,  a  philanthro- 
pist without  a  philanthropist's  impracticable 
dreams,  a  Christian  without  pretensions,  a  ruler 
without  the  pride  of  place  and  power,  an  ambi- 


430  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

tious  man  without  selfishness,  and  a  successful 
man  without  vanity. 

O.  W.  Holmes  : 

Our  hearts  lie  buried  in  the  dvist 

With  him  so  true  and  tender, 
The  patriot's  stay,  the  people's  trust, 

The  shield  of  the  offender. 

J.  R.  Lowell  : 

On  the  day  of  his  death,  this  simple  Western 
attorney,  who,  according  to  one  party  was  a 
vulgar  joker,  and  whom  the  doctrinaires  among 
his  own  supporters  accused  of  wanting  every 
element  of  statesmanship,  was  the  most  ab- 
solute ruler  in  Christendom,  and  this  solely  by 
the  hold  his  good-humored  sagacity  had  laid  on 
the  hearts  and  understandings  of  his  country- 
men. Nor  was  this  all,  for  it  appeared  that  he 
had  drawn  the  great  majority  not  only  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  but  of  mankind  also,  to  his  side. 
So  strong  and  so  persuasive  is  honest  manliness 
without  a  single  quality  of  romance  or  unreal 
sentiment  to  help  it !  A  civilian  during  times  of 
the  most  captivating  military  achievement,  awk- 
ward, with  no  skill  in  the  lower  technicalities  of 
manners,  he  left  behind  a  fame  beyond  that  of 
any  conqueror,  the  memory  of  a  grace  higher 
than  that  of  outward  person,  and  of  a  gentleman- 


TESTIMONIES.  43 1 

liness  deeper  than  mere  breeding.  Never  before 
that  startled  April  morning  did  such  multitudes 
of  men  shed  tears  for  the  death  of  one  whom 
they  had  never  seen,  as  if  with  him  a  friendly 
presence  had  been  taken  away  from  their  lives, 
leaving  them  colder  and  darker.  Never  was 
funeral  panegyric  so  eloquent  as  the  silent  look 
of  sympathy  which  strangers  exchanged  when 
they  met  on  that  day.  Their  common  manhood 
had  lost  a  kinsman. 

Wise,  steadfast  in  the  strengtla  of  God,  and  true. 
How  beautiful  to  see 

Once  more  a  shepherd  of  mankind  indeed. 

Who  loved  his  charge,  but  never  loved  to  lead  ; 

One  whose  meek  flock  the  people  joyed  to  be, 
Not  lured  by  any  Cheat  of  birth. 
But  by  his  clear-grained  human  worth, 

And  brave  old  wisdom  of  sincerity  I 

•  •  •  •  • 

Great  Captains,  with  their  guns  and  drums. 
Disturb  our  judgment  for  the  hour, 
But  at  last  silence  comes  ; 
These  all  are  gone,  and,  standing  like  a  tower, 
Our  children  shall  behold  his  fame. 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man. 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame. 
New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 

Clara  Morris : 

God's  anointed — the  great,  the  blameless  Lin- 
coln. .  .  .    The  homely,  tender-hearted  *' Father 


432  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

Abraham" — rare  combination  of  courage,  justice, 
and  humanity. 

H.  J.  Raymond  : 

But  there  was  a  native  grace,  the  out-growth 
of  kindness  of  heart,  which  never  failed  to  shine 
through  all  his  words  and  acts.  His  heart  was 
as  tender  as  a  woman's,  — as  accessible  to  grief 
and  gladness  as  a  child's, — yet  strong  as  Hercules 
to  bear  the  anxieties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
awful  burden  that  rested  on  it.  Little  incidents 
of  the  war, —  instances  of  patient  suffering  in 
devotion  to  duty, — tales  of  distress  from  the  lips 
of  women,  never  failed  to  touch  the  innermost 
chords  of  his  nature,  and  to  awaken  that  sweet 
sympathy  which  carries  with  it,  to  those  who 
suffer,  all  the  comfort  the  human  heart  can 
crave.  Those  who  have  heard  him,  as  many 
have,  relate  such  touching  episodes  of  the  war, 
cannot  recall  without  emotion  the  quivering  lip, 
the  face  gnarled  and  writhed  to  stifle  the  rising 
sob,  and  the  patient,  loving  eyes  swimming  in 
tears,  which  mirrored  the  tender  pity  of  his 
gentle  and  loving  nature.  He  seemed  a  stranger 
to  the  harsher  and  stormier  passions  of  man. 
Easily  grieved,  he  seemed  incapable  of  hate.  .  .  . 
It  is  first   among  the  marvels  of  a  marvelous 


TESTIMONIES.  433 

time,  that  to  such  a  character,  so  womanly  in  all 
its  traits,  should  have  been  committed,  absolutely 
and  with  almost  despotic  power,  the  guidance  of 
a  great  nation  through  a  bloody  and  terrible 
civil  war.  .  .  . 

Carl  Schurz  : 

As  the  state  of  society  in  which  Abraham  Lin- 
coln grew  up  passes  away,  the  world  will  read 
with  increasing  wonder  of  the  man  who,  not  only 
of  the  humblest  origin,  but  remaining  the  simplest 
and  most  unpretending  of  citizens,  was  raised  to 
a  position  of  power  unprecedented  in  our  history  ; 
who  was  the  gentlest  and  most  peace-loving  of 
mortals,  unable  to  see  any  creature  suffer  with- 
out a  pang  in  his  own  breast,  and  suddenly  found 
himself  called  to  conduct  the  greatest  and  bloodi- 
est of  our  wars  ;  who  wielded  the  power  of  govern- 
ment when  stern  resolution  and  relentless  force 
were  the  order  of  the  day,  and  then  won  and 
ruled  the  popular  mind  and  heart  by  the  tender 
sympathies  of  his  nature  ;  who  was  a  cautious 
conservative  by  temperament  and  mental  habit, 
and  led  the  most  sudden  and  sweeping  social  rev- 
olution of  our  time  ;  who,  preserving  his  homely 
speech  and  rustic  manner,  even  in  the  most  con- 
spicuous position  of  that  period,  drew  upon  him- 
28 


434  LIFE  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

self  the  scoffs  of  polite  society,  and  then  thrilled 
the  soul  of  mankind  with  utterances  of  wonderful 
beauty  and  grandeur  ;  who,  in  his  heart  the  best 
friend  of  the  defeated  South,  was  murdered 
because  a  crazy  fanatic  took  him  for  its  most 
cruel  enemy  ;  who,  while  in  power,  was  beyond 
measure  lampooned  and  maligned  by  sectional 
passion  and  an  excited  party  spirit,  and  around 
whose  bier  friend  and  foe  gathered  to  praise  him 
— which  they  have  since  never  ceased  to  do — as 
one  of  the  greatest  of  Americans  and  the  best  of 
men. 

Henry  Watterson  : 

He  went  on  and  on,  and  never  backward,  until 
his  time  was  come,  when  his  genius,  fully  de- 
veloped, rose  to  the  great  exigencies  intrusted  to 
his  hands. 

"Where  did  he  get  his  style  ?  Ask  Shakespeare 
and  Burns  where  they  got  their  style.  Where 
did  he  get  his  grasp  upon  affairs  and  his  knowl- 
edge of  men  ?  Ask  the  Lord  God,  who  created 
miracles  in  Luther  and  Bonaparte  !  .  .  .  Where 
did  Shakespeare  get  his  genius  ?  Where  did 
Mozart  get  his  music  ?  Whose  hand  smote  the 
lyre  of  the  Scottish  plowman,  and  stayed  the 
life  of  the  German  priest  ?    God,  God,  and  God 


TESTIMONIES.  435 

alone  ;  and  as  surely  as  these  were  raised  up  by 
God,  inspired  by  God,  was  Abraham  Lincoln  ;  and 
a  thousand  years  hence,  no  drama,  no  tragedy,  no 
epic  poem,  will  be  filled  with  greater  wonder,  or 
be  followed  by  mankind  with  deeper  feeling, 
than  that  which  tells  the  story  of  his  life  and 
death. 


THE  END. 


